2. What was the Holocaust?
The Holocaust was the systematic and planned murder of the Jewish people of Europe. This was carried out by the Nazi regime who came to power in Germany between 1933 and By the end of the Holocaust Six Million Jewish men, women and children had died in Ghettos, mass shootings, concentration and death camps.

3. Nazi persecution
The Nazis did not just single out Jewish people in their persecution. The Nazis believed some people were better than others and therefore set out to exterminate those who didn’t fulfil the Nazi ideal “Aryan” person. The Nazis described these people as Untermenschen (inferior people) and used this idea to justify the persecution, sterilisation and murder of huge numbers of people. The Nazis targeted people with physical and mental disabilities, homosexuals, Eastern Europeans, Gypsies and Black people in Germany. They also targeted people whose religious beliefs conflicted with Nazi beliefs, such as Jehovah’s witnesses.

4. What can we learn from the Holocaust?
Watch this video from Susan Pollack, a holocaust survivor, telling a unique story of surviving genocide for the first time.

5. Don’t stand by
The Holocaust and subsequent genocides took place because the local populations allowed insidious persecution to take root. Whilst some actively supported or facilitated persecution, the vast majority stood by silently – at best, afraid to speak out; at worst, indifferent.
Bystanders enabled the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and subsequent genocides.
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has written powerfully about the impact of bystanders
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

6. How does Holocaust Memorial Day apply to you?
Do not allow things to happen to members of the school community that you disagree with. Report anything you think to be unkind or cruel to a member of staff Above all do not allow yourself to be a bystander, or audience to an event. You have the power to stop persecution, racism and discrimination.