JEWISH HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
Year 10 Holocaust Museum Excursion
Over three days, all Year 10's recently visited the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick. This visit commenced their study of the Holocaust, which they will discuss in both Humanities and English this semester.
Students had the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of a Holocaust survivor, which was an experience I think many students will remember for a long time to come.
I would like to commend the students for the respect they showed during their visit. Well done, Year 10's!
Leah Shields
Head of Humanities
The Jewish Holocaust Centre was created by Melbourne Holocaust survivors as a memorial to the 6 million Jews who were murdered in WWII. It opened in 1984 with a mission to educate the public ‘to combat antisemitism, racism and prejudice in the community’.
Student Reflections
Chelsea B
Personally, I found the excursion although very confronting, very informative as it really showed why it should never be forgotten and how many people it flowed onto effect. The part that stood out the most, was the film at the beginning, which really put into perspective just how many people were gruesomely murdered and mistreated only, because of religion and features.
Emma P
I thought the excursion was very interesting and enlightening about such a horrible thing in history. We saw lots of papers and belongings from war times and spoke to an incredible survivor. The thing that had the biggest impression on me was listening to Jack talk about his experiences and how it has had such a huge impact on his life.
Josh (J.P)
The excursion was very eye opening to the events that happened throughout the holocaust. The museum helped get a grasp on how bad life actually was during the holocaust. The one thing that made a big impression on me was hearing Jakob talking about what happened to him and the horrors he had seen.
Max
The excursion was very interesting, it helped me learn about what happened. It was very good to hear the survivor speak to us. Hitler killed 6 million Jews; that is the size of 60 MCG’s and 15 of those MCG’s were babies and children.
Caleb D
The excursion was very informative and made us more aware of what happened in the Holocaust. It was somewhat scary at the same time. It was an eye opener and really makes you feel bad for the Jewish people.
Angus B
I think that the excursion was a very moving event for many. I personally listened to a Holocaust survivor, Jack. I saw many artefacts of the Holocaust, such as Jewish murder transcripts and the like. Jack had the largest impact on me, as it was startling to hear the individual story of a survivor, as it brings the Holocaust into a realm of possibility rather than history. Jack’s story made it much easier to visualise the shocking events of the Holocaust and it was very emotionally stimulating.
Jaz H
Very eye opening and very strange to see how it was like in the holocaust. I thought it was cool to hear the survivor spoke about how she changed IDs and became not Jewish and how she was scared, that she would be caught. I thought that was brave. The most memorable part was the survivor saying how she still gets flashbacks and still is worried someone might come after her.
Tahnee E
I think the excursion was a good experience for us to go and see the history of the holocaust. Hearing from a survivor's point of view really helped us put into perspective and helped us understand more. What really stuck with me was, how many innocent people's lives had been taken; approximately 60 MCGs full of people were murdered.
Spencer P
The excursion was a great experience as we got a special opportunity to meet and ask questions to a Holocaust survivor, Halina. What I will remember is the amount of victims of the holocaust, similar to 60 MCG's worth of people.
Genevieve J
I found it interesting when I stepped into the building, I felt something heavy rest on my shoulders. My group started in the section on the stories of those who hid. My guide talked a little about how her family hid from the Nazis. Looking around the museum, we saw different things; we saw a tube full of buttons that was donated from a school to represent all the children and babies that died throughout the horror. There was a model of a concentration camp; there were stars of David that Jewish people were forced to wear, so they could be fully identified as Jewish.
Peter P
I thought that although it was a sombre subject, the people there made it easier to talk about. Some of the photos were confronting but very interesting to look at and think about.
Darcey G
I thought it was interesting. I found it so interesting to learn Helina’s story. However, it was also really confronting and uncomfortable to see the video at the start and to see all the clothes and the camp replica, because it made what we are learning about, feel real to see actual artefacts from the Holocaust. The thing that had the biggest impression on me was the statistic, that it would take 60 full MCG's to hold all of the people who were murdered.
Jackson P
I thought it was cool and very interesting. Nice to learn about my heritage. I took away that you should not be a bystander if you see something you think is wrong.
Ruby W
The excursion was great. I loved going around the museum looking at the displays and new information of everything around the place. I loved listening to Abram’s story about what happened to him and how brave he was to share it with us. The thing that had the biggest impression on me was, Abram’s confronting story on his family, how he had to survive himself after losing his family.
Keely S
The museum was very interesting. Something that had a big impression on me was when the survivors were telling their stories and how close they got to almost being caught.
Mei Mei S
I thought it was cool listening to a survivor and