Lessons from Lived History: Character and the Holocaust
“Study hard, because what you learn they cannot take from you.”
Those words were spoken this week by Holocaust survivor, Sarah Saaroni, to students from the Pre-VCE Germany in the Twentieth Century class, whom I joined with Mr Armstrong and Mr Pratt on a visit to the Jewish Holocaust Museum, Melbourne. The museum preserves the memory of the six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Within its newly redeveloped spaces, students explored individual stories, analysed primary historical sources and listened to survivor testimony, which gave them a deeper and more personal understanding of the Holocaust.
Sarah, now 100 years of age, was born in Lublin, Poland, in 1926. Following the German invasion her family was forced into the Lublin Ghetto, and when deportations began, they went into hiding in a nearby village. Her parents told her to take on a Christian identity and travel to Germany with other young Polish workers. As Lidia Wornik, she survived the war years as a Christian labourer, escaping from the Gestapo on numerous occasions.
When the war ended, Sarah returned to Lublin and found that none of her family remained. She was later reunited with one brother and travelled to Palestine, where another brother had settled before the war. With help from her brother in Australia, she then migrated to Melbourne with her husband and two young children to begin a new life. Her testimony spoke of loss and determination, but also of perseverance, hope and love, and it left a lasting impression on everyone present.
The program also drew on University of Melbourne research into the character strengths shown by Holocaust survivors. As our school continues to develop its own Character Education Program, these strengths offer a useful starting point for reflection, and they prompt a question worth asking ourselves: how might they shape the choices we make each day, and how can we help build a kinder world?
- Bravery: facing challenges with courage and resolve
- Kindness: showing compassion and care towards others
- Fairness: treating all people with justice and respect
- Hope: keeping optimism and perseverance alive in pursuit of good outcomes
- Judgement: making thoughtful and considered decisions
- Perspective: seeing the broader picture and understanding the experiences of others
Andrew Perks – Deputy Principal: Culture and Character Education
