ASFA students and staff pay their respects
by Educate Magazine January 27, 2020 · Secondary School News
Students and staff at the Academy of St Francis of Assisi (ASFA) have created a bespoke video in order to reflect on Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 (Monday 27 January).
The theme for the Memorial Day this year was ‘We Stand Together’ and students and staff came together to stand in respect of the six million Jews who were killed during the holocaust, under Nazi persecution, and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The academy also recognised those who are persecuted and denied freedom today.
Students made paper flames and wrote their own messages of hope and peace for the future. Over 700 flames were placed, creating a large display in the academy.
This presentation was filmed and shown during form-time so that students and staff could reflect on the atrocities that took place during that time. A special lesson on the holocaust and later genocides also took place.
A presentation reading was also given by ASFA’s Chaplain, Phil Johnson, from the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 23: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap a harvest of peace, if we do not give up.”
Miss Katie Allen, head of humanities, said: “I was fortunate enough to visit Auschwitz with Arek Hersh, a Holocaust survivor. He is passionate about educating pupils about the Holocaust to ensure that it should never be allowed to happen again. Unfortunately, it has in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur – places that some of our students have fled from.
“By commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day and showing our students that this was not inevitable and grew from prejudice, discrimination and dehumanisation, we can help them to understand the consequences of exclusion and take action to create a safer future.”
The video can be viewed, here: https://vimeo.com/387393832
