GCSE History Remembrance

Posted at 11:06 am on 21st November, 2017

Flixton Girls School year 11 and Sixth Form students visited Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire as part of their GCSE and A-Level History studies, which specifically focuses on German history between 1918 and 1939.

The students met 87 year old Bob Norton, a Holocaust survivor. Bob was born in Czechoslovakia and fled the Nazis with his family to the UK in 1938, where he settled and lived ever since. He told of his grandparents and his early life as a member of the Jewish community in Hungary and how they had to leave the country once the Nazis took over.

The whole trip was a moving experience for everyone. Year 11’s said it helped them understand the meaning and importance of tolerance. They said ‘the talk was very educational and an honour to meet someone who was under Nazi control during this time and survived.’ 

Mr Garcha who escorted the students on the trip explained; ‘It is very important to give students the unique opportunity to hear directly from people who have witnessed such events. Our girls gained an insight into the experiences of a Holocaust survivor but also what life was like in Germany at this time.’

Students were able to spend time in the centres garden of remembrance and the museum. They also participated in a discussion about where the blame for the Holocaust should lie.

This moving yet uplifting trip was followed up with our own Remembrance service held on Friday 10^th November; to mark Remembrance weekend. Students completed form time activities, participated in a whole school assemblies and a minute’s silence. Mrs Hazeldine and the House Captains laid a school poppy wreath at our local Cenotaph as our mark of respect for those that fought.