Year 10 Excursion

Year 10 Shrine of Remembrance & Holocaust Museum Excursion

On Thursday 4 June half the Year 10 Humanities cohort went to both the Holocaust Museum and the Shrine of Remembrance as we are learning about World War II. 

We arrived at the Holocaust Museum in the morning where we were split into two groups. Half went to tour the exhibits with a tour guide. The guides explained and talked to us about the different artifacts, personal stories and their significance, and we explored the displays. The second half of the group went downstairs to look at sources from the Holocaust. The presenter taught us about the ‘pyramid of hate’ and we worked together in groups to analyse the sources and discuss it together, including the ranking the objects on where they would fit on the pyramid (biased attitudes, acts of prejudice, discrimination, violence and genocide). 

My table group had a children's book that depicted Jewish people as criminals and greedy people. I was surprised reading this as it was targeted at little children who were easily influenced. The groups then took turns presenting their artifacts. Once both groups finished, we all sat together and had Paul Grinwald, a Holocaust survivor, explain to us his personal journey. We had an enlightening Q&A with him which I found very interesting, learning about his experiences during and after the Holocaust. 

After finishing at the Holocaust Museum, we all went to the Shrine of Remembrance via the tram line. We did a self-guided tour of the exhibits in the Shrine. One of the main things my friends and I looked at which interested me the most was a massive wooden lifeboat from a ship called the SS Devanha, which was used to carry soldiers onto the beach at Gallipoli. It was amazing to stand there looking at the old wooden lifeboat and trying to imagine what it felt like for the guys stepping off it. 

Overall, while there was a lot to take in, it was a worthwhile experience. Despite the freezing weather, seeing the actual artifacts and hearing directly from a Holocaust survivor of their experiences, the Humanities excursion gave me an expanded perspective on the Holocaust and the wartime experiences of people in World War I and World War II.  

 By Neil Meyer