Humanities News

We Are Australian

On the last day of Autumn, the Year 10 Humanities students had the pleasure of embracing Melbourne’s finest weather as the rain fell lightly onto their umbrellas as they anticipated the opportunities the day held for them. Meeting at Federation Square, we were warmly greeted by the Koorie Heritage Trust’s tour guides who were bursting with energy and had pockets full of various native leaves that smelt of lemons. As they walked us through Federation Square and down to the Birrarung Wilam beside the Yarra River, we learnt of how Melbourne’s land has changed over time and the importance of the land to the Kulin Nation. We continued to discover the rich Indigenous history and secrets woven through Federation Square along with some recondite details about the Yarra River.

After a tram to Elsternwick and a lunch briefly enjoyed, the Year 10s found themselves taking turns squeezing into the cloakroom of the Jewish Holocaust Centre. After fitting more than 50 bags into the small room, we headed upstairs where we received a brief presentation introducing the Holocaust Centre and why it had been established in Melbourne as a way to remember and to highlight the dangers of racism in society.

We were incredibly privileged to be able to hear from one of the survivors of the Holocaust, Joseph De Haan, who told a humbling and inspiring story of the people who had risked their lives to help him. Joseph was born into a Jewish family in 1922 in Amsterdam, and left school at the age of 14 to help his father at the family butchery.  During World War 2, Joseph was standing next to his father and stepmother when they were forcibly removed from their home. They never came back and were among the estimated 1.1 million people murdered at Auschwitz. Joseph was taken in by the Soeters family and then a succession of Christians who were a part of the Dutch underground resistance. He lived in various places in Friesland and finally the Heskampen farm of the Rosiers Family. At the end of his story, he strongly emphasised the importance of staying in school; saying that it was the ‘finest time’ of one’s life.

Nam Nguyen

Year 10