Welcome to our March 2009 Newsletter
If you have any colleagues who may be interested in the work of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust please pass this newsletter on and encourage them to join our mailing list.
Commemorative Book
Thank you to all the individuals and organisations that made this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day happen.
So far HMDT know of over 500 events that took place across the UK providing an opportunity for thousands of people to Stand up to Hatred
It is not too late to have your event included in our 2009 Commemorative Book.
Please let HMDT know about the events you held in Schools, Colleges, Community, Faith and Youth groups across the UK and send any photos or stories about how your community stood up to hatred and commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day to
enquiries@hmd.org.uk
Free HMD Posters
Hard copies of the A3 HMD09 Posters are still available to order, free of charge, by contacting the HMDT office on 0845 838 1883.
HMD09 Virtual Candle
HMDT would like to thank the 31,339 individuals who took the time on Holocaust Memorial Day to light a virtual candle and pledged to Stand up to Hatred
By pledging to Stand up to Hatred, we have all made a choice. We chose not to attack, to abuse, to exclude, to stand back and do nothing – we chose to resist, to respect, to protect.
Why should we remember?
To mark the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, pupils at Hampton School in Middlesex would like to ask you a question. “Why should we remember” the Rwandan genocide?
So far individuals such as John Humphreys, David Cameron and Boris Johnson have taken the time to visit the website and explained why they think we should remember. We encourage you to do the same.
Please visit www.whyshouldweremember.org/ for more information and to contribute.
Recognising the rescuers
The Holocaust Educational Trust is actively working to secure formal recognition for the small number of British people who displayed extraordinary courage in order to aid or save Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Currently, knighthoods cannot be granted posthumously – and few British heroes of the Holocaust, honoured by other countries, have ever received the formal recognition in the UK.
HET has initiated a petition on the Number 10 Downing Street website, which can be signed here
The Diary of Anne Frank
The DVD of the acclaimed BBC drama series about the life of Anne Frank broadcast in the run up to this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day has now been released.
To tie-in with the launch, the Anne Frank Trust has produced a free education pack for teachers and educators.
This can be downloaded at www.annefrank.org.uk/bbcdrama
Searching for Survivors
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is launching a major international initiative to expand its search for Holocaust survivors to include information on survivors living all over the world.
Through its International Holocaust Survivors Outreach Project, the Museum’s Registry of Holocaust Survivors is seeking to contact Holocaust survivors in order to assist survivors and their families in their attempts to trace missing relatives, as well as to assist in historical and genealogical research.
The Museum’s Web site www.ushmm.org/registry contains further information on the Registry as well as downloadable registration forms in 17 languages.
Help to shape the future of Holocaust education
Every state secondary school in England will be entitled to free professional development, ongoing support, and high quality teaching and learning resources in a new, national initiative: the Holocaust Education Development Programme (HEDP).
Launched by the Institute of Education, University of London, the HEDP will bring together thousands of teachers across the country with researchers and leading academics.
More than 2000 teachers have participated in the national survey that is helping to shape the HEDP. To have your say in the online survey; for further information about HEDP; and to register your interest in this landmark programme please visit www.hedpuk.org
Arts and Minds: Celebrating Cultural Diversity
The NASUWT arts & minds competition is a major UK-wide competition that has been running successfully for a number of years. Its aim is to promote and celebrate cultural diversity.
Each year the competition focuses on a particular theme. In 2009, the competition has the theme of ‘community’ within the overall aim of promoting race equality and cultural diversity in schools.
The theme is designed to encourage young people and schools to think about the community they live in, explore their own sense of identity and consider how a sense of community and belonging can be promoted.
For more information, please visit http://www.teachersunion.org.uk
- March_Newsletter (PDF)
