Partnerships & Consultancy

The Holocaust and Anti-Racism Education Department, as one of the most influential organisations in its fields, is developing partnerships with other specialist bodies and with media and the arts.

Holocaust Survivors Centre (HSC)

We have close and ongoing links with Shalvata, the therapeutic unit of the Holocaust Survivors Centre. Together with them we have combined our experience and resources to help Bosnian and Rwandan survivors. 600 survivors of genocide in Rwanda, aged between the ages of 16 and 30 are now living in the UK. Most of them are still traumatised by their horrific experiences. To help them come to terms with their experience, and to mark the 10th anniversary of their genocide, a number of Rwandans have been invited to the Sixth Form Seminar to experience Holocaust survivors working with children.

Film, TV, and Theatre

The Holocaust and Anti-Racism Education Department is increasingly invited to provide specialist advice to writers and producers. Notable examples include the main BBC1 documentary Grandchild of the Holocaust and the Department's contribution to the BBC's Auschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution', both broadcast in early 2005 to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp. The Department has also co-operated with BBC Education, which is producing a study guide to accompany the programmes. Advice and consultation was given to Richard Wilson and Anthony Sher for the National Theatre's production of Primo, in the autumn of 2004. Innumerable documentaries and features have been enriched by advice and assistance of survivors and the Department, together with press and private interviews, and help or book research.

Blue Peter January 2009

The London Jewish Cultural Centre (LJCC) were integral to the production of a special Blue Peter Holocaust Memorial Day programme in January 2009. Acting as advisors on the production, the Centre facilitated meetings with Freda Wineman, one of the survivors working closely with the LJCC, who ultimately agreed to take a journey back to Auschwitz (the first time since 1944) with new Blue Peter presenter Joel de Vries, on a journey to explore his Jewish roots.
'The LJCC played a key role in our programme by introducing us to Holocaust survivors and by advising us on how best to handle introducing this difficult subject matter to children. Their assistance was invaluable. Richard Turley, Blue Peter Director.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Department was recently asked to comment on the construction of an on-line survey commissioned by Miramax, amongst secondary school children aged 11 -- 16 across the UK, into their knowledge of the Holocaust.

While the overview reported by the world press suggests across-the-age range ignorance, the details prove otherwise. Indeed, the results show that Holocaust education has made a significant impact on levels of teenage understanding of the period.
55% of eleven year olds knew that Auschwitz was a concentration camp. That figure rose to 92% by the age of 16, but, while this is a major improvement, it nevertheless indicates that 8% of 16 year olds, after exposure to compulsory education, were still unsure. This confirms that educators should not become complacent. Inspirational teachers will use a variety of methods to engage their pupils as a launch pad for class interaction and discussion. The window of opportunity offered by direct survivor testimony is closing and we must find other effective means of delivering their important message. The ongoing universal importance of using this dark period in history to impact on our behavior now and in the future cannot be underestimated nor should it be devalued.