Year 10 English

By Yr 10 Students Asha & Tilly

As part of our Year 10 English studies after reading the Tattooist of Auschwitz, we had the opportunity to visit the Melbourne Holocaust Museum. During the excursion, we had the chance to speak with a Holocaust survivor, Paul Grinwald. Paul told us about his personal experiences and stories about his time living as a Jewish boy in France.

We were also given a tour around the museum where we learnt about the history of the Holocaust through different displays and information. Our group got a tour of the propaganda, artifacts and rebellion sections of the museum. A few items and images that really stood out to us was a Mother’s Day card created by a little girl in one of the concentration camps. It was interesting because pens and paper were strictly forbidden in these camps. Another image that was eye opening was an image of a big crowd of Nazis and their supporters all doing the Nazi salute, in the whole image with hundreds of people you can see just one man refusing to do the salute.

One of the most interesting parts was studying real artifacts from the Holocaust. Two groups were given photographs of before and after war. From there we had to look at the images and compare them and decide which one was from before the war and which was from after. We were able to guess which one was which by looking at who was in the photo because the photo taken after the war had a lot fewer people. The picture from before the war also had young children and elderly people, who were not in the photo from after the war.

Overall, the excursion gave us a deeper insight into the period of the Holocaust and what it was like for all who experienced it. Many of us hope to go back during the holidays to get the full experience of the museum.