The Trust's four-part programme, Lessons from Auschwitz, ran for the 100th time this year and carried it's 20,000th sixth form student to the former extermination camp in Poland. It is difficult to dispute the statement that the Trust has gone from strength to strength in the last 25 years. However, it has shown potential for even greater things in the future with the launch of their new Ambassadors programme.
Every single young person who takes part in Lessons from Auschwitz becomes an ambassador for the Trust and Holocaust education. While the Trust can only take two students from each sixth form college at a time, it has affected the lives of 20,000 17-18 year-olds from the entire nation. Therefore, the Trust wishes to create a network amongst these ambassadors to help them communicate the lessons that they learnt for today from the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
To do this, the Holocaust Educational Trust appointed a cohort of 25 Regional Ambassadors. Their aim? To represent the Trust and educate about the Holocaust in their region. More specifically, to connect with the ambassadors in their area and thereby strength their links with the Trust. It was exciting news to hear of this venture, but even more thrilling was Monday 8th July.
On Monday 8th, the Trust held their very first Ambassador Conference to launch their new Ambassador programme of student and regional ambassadors. 500 young people attended the day at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre to listen to world-renown speakers. While nerves in the Trust's brilliant team were high, the day was a huge success, not least because they could see enthusiastic, excited, and passionate people wanting to know more about the Holocaust to tell their friends and communities.
Was this the only celebration though?
Absolutely not! The following week, 23 acquaintances of the Trust met at Luton Airport early one morning to take part in the Holocaust Educational Trust's first ambassador study visit to the homeland of the Jews: Israel. Having not met each other before and anticipating strict security, nerves were very high again! Israel. The Trust ran this visit to complement the knowledge gained at the conference and consolidate the aims of the Trust for the regional ambassadors. Israel. Specifically, the visit was to Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, the site of a museum about and memorial to the Holocaust and International School of Holocaust Studies. Israel. There were lectures and workshops by several academics, field workers, and survivors, which would enable the ambassadors to communicate the lessons of the Holocaust to their regions and communities. Israel. It felt dreamlike, but was also an incredible reality. The opportunity to be part of this milestone was a life-changing and lifetime experience for all 23 ambassadors. They returned to the UK understanding that the Holocaust is not just limited to Auschwitz and is relevant for today. They were equipped and inspired all the more to promote and educate their communities and regions about the Holocaust.
And so the Trust's 25th anniversary has been celebrated in magnificent ways, which create hopeful prospects for the future as the ambassadors who attended the conference and participants who visited Israel take what they heard from older and academic generations to their present and future generations. ________________________________________________________________________
Why write this post and blog?
Well I have been fortunate to see and experience the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust. I have undertaken the Lessons from Auschwitz programme, attended their Ambassador Conference, and experienced the joy of being one of those 23 who visited Israel. Having recently become one of this first cohort of regional ambassadors, I have seen the enormity but also relevance of the Trust's task. I wish to reach generations with the lessons I have learnt from Auschwitz and Israel. For this reason, I hope to let you hear about my experiences at the Conference and in Israel, the importance of the Holocaust for today, and the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust in the future.
