VCAL Holocaust Centre Excursion

“On Tuesday, the 23rd of April, we, as a class, got to experience something meaningful and educational when we visited the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick. We started by meeting a lovely Jewish women who gave us more information about the Holocaust. I found her to be an inspiring women because she enjoys teaching people about The Holocaust and she touches peoples’ hearts by the way she presents herself and how everything she taught was meaningful.

"We then got to meet a survivor named Gary, who was a very good and happy man. He told us his story of how he survived and how he found the camp he was located at. He survived because he was a hardworking man and with the help of a lovely girl named Rosie, who helped with his journey. I found his story very hard to take. The things he experienced were so sad that it got to me when he told us his journey. Gary grew up with no family because his family was killed when he was a young boy. I would recommend anyone to go to the Holocaust Centre and feel the emotions we all felt and experienced. I would to thank Mrs. Layton for organising this excursion for us. It truly was amazing. Should do more excursions like this but for a much longer time.” - Munga

“On Tuesday April 23rd we went to the Holocaust Centre in Melbourne to learn more on the subject and meet a survivor. The most memorable thing about the museum is meeting the survivor and hearing what it was like being in a camp.” - Ezra K

“Our class went to the Jewish Holocaust Centre on the 23/04/2019. It was very eye opening. We met a real holocaust survivor named Gary Grey. He told us some stories of what it was like. It is one thing to know about the holocaust but to be told and showed what it was like is a whole new thing.” - Anonymous

“On Tuesday we went to the Holocaust Centre where we met a survivor. He talked about his life before, during and after his time in a concentration camp. He mentioned that there was a girl who worked at the kitchen that snuck out food for him. He was a nice and humorous old man. He was over 90 years old when I met him.” - Nehamia Kim

“On the 22nd of April Year 12 VCAL class visited the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick, Melbourne, where we learned about the past history of the allies of Germany, the death of the Jews and their stories and we met one of the survivors, Gary Grey, where he told us some of his stories and what it was like to be a slave in the camp.” – Anonymous

“April 23, 2019, VCAL went to the Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick. These are the studnets thoughts and experiences of the day.” – Anonymous

“On the 23th of April we went to the Holocaust Centre. We learned about how we should not judge people for what they wear or the colour their skin. We watched a short clip about the Holocaust, where it was and when it happened in more detail. Then we were shown around the museum were we viewed artefacts of this time. The highlight was when we met a survivor, Gary Grey. He told us all about his time with the concentration camps in the Holocaust. It was a lot of information. I can’t wait to go back there again to learn more about it.” - Lochie White

“On Tuesday, April 23rd, we went to the Jewish Holocaust Centre. My favourite part of the excursion was listening to and talking to a survivor, whose name was Gary Grey. Hearing about the tragedies that he went through in the camp, the stories of very unlikely people helping him survive the Holocaust. It was interesting to walk around the museum full of old Jewish clothes and real stars of David that the Jews wore. They also had a model of a camp Treblinka, that really interested me because one of the survivors made it from memory and the camp can’t be found anywhere else in the world.” – Anonymous

“On Tuesday, we went to the Holocaust Centre. It was fun. We saw the history of what happened at the camps and even talked to a survivor of the camps.” - Riley D

“This excursion was held on the 23rd of April for Senior VCAL students. We left school at 9 in the morning and took a bus to the Holocaust Museum which is located in the city. Once we arrived, a relative of a survivor walked us in. We took a seat in a room where she discussed the Holocaust with us in a really understanding way. We went for a guided walk around the museum, discussing what the meaning was to everything. While walking around the museum, we came across a model of one of the camps, Treblinka. It was so interesting to see how the camps where laid out and how the Jewish people lived, or in this case died. We then spoke to a survivor of the Holocaust. It was really interesting hearing about his story. It really gave you an eye opening to how badly Jewish people were treated. Overall, this was a great experience and would definitely recommend this for other students.” - Shackera and Bryah

“The best part was listening to Gary Grey talk about his experiences during the Holocaust.” - Brooke

"The conversation with a holocaust survivor was very touching and very educational." - Anonymous

“On Tuesday, we went to a place called the Holocaust Centre. It was quite fascinating, but you could feel the sadness there. We saw a miniature replica of one of the camps, Treblinka, a memorial room, an eternal flame outside and a few real uniforms from one of the camps. The highlight of our visit was us being able to meet a man named Gary, who had actually experienced what it was like in a camp first hand. He was very nice, but unfortunately, his whole family had been killed in a separate camp. He told us many stories. At the end, we lit a candle in remembrance of the many lives lost in the era of World War 2.” – Anonymous

“On Tuesday, the 23rd, we went to the Holocaust Centre. We met a Holocaust survivor and he was really cool. He had a sense of humour and he told us his story. I learned that to be close to your family because you don’t know what could go wrong” - Sean Hoskin