VCE Food and History Camp

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, our VCE Food Studies and History classes have been exploring the food and culture that migrated to Australia after the Holocaust. On Tuesday we had the opportunity to visit the St. Kilda East Synagogue and the Jewish Museum of Australia exploring the culinary rules of Judaism, Jewish contribution to society and the sacred elements of the religion targeted by the Nazis, Jewish rituals, traditions and celebrations including those to do with food. Afterward, we had one of the highlights of our experience in Melbourne; the opportunity to visit the kosher home of Shelley who provided an extraordinary Jewish lunch for 20 students and three staff in her living room.

On Wednesday, at the Jewish Holocaust Museum students met with Ivan, a Czechoslovakian Jew who was an armed partisan fighter against the Nazis during their occupation of his country. He shared the story of the rise of antisemitism, the bravery of the people who protected him, the risks he took to survive and how he came to take the fight to the Nazis.

Interestingly, 97 year old Ivan was in Warrnambool the weekend before our visit, enjoying a visit to Flagstaff Hill and a meal at Bojangles restaurant. Who knew that we had an insurgent in our town who fought the Nazis only a couple of weekends ago.

A special thank-you to Ms Hollis and Ms Rantall who were open to helping me create a cross-curricular educational experience that is not offered at any other school in Victoria.

Mr Dart

VCE History Teacher