Year 7 English Incursion

Last Friday, our Year 7 students participated in an incursion delivered online by the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.

Below are reflections from our students following the event.

“In English, Year 7s are studying the book Once by Morris Gleitzman. It tells the story about a child going through the Holocaust from their perspective. It showcases the point of view and struggles of a Jewish child during Adolf Hitler’s rule.

“As part of our studies, students from Melton and Cobblebank campuses attended an incursion about the Holocaust. The session covered Adolf Hitler’s background, the effect the Holocaust had on Jews, the perspective of Holocaust survivors and the emotional impacts of the decisions made by people in the Holocaust and their positive or negative outcomes.

“The session was very informative and super interesting. The presenter spoke about what happened during the Nazi’s supreme rule and the lives of different people within those times. Videos of survivors were shown, which helped the students gain a deeper insight into what occurred.

“The most captivating fact I took from the incursion was that many collaborators of the Nazi organisation risked their lives to protect and save the Jews. It was acts of selflessness that allowed many struggling children to survive up until today, to share their story. Alexa, Cobblebank Campus

“During our incursion run by the Melbourne Holocaust Museum we learned that the Holocaust was an event led by the Nazis and their leader, Adolf Hitler, during World War II that was extremely racist.

“About six million people were killed during this event, most of them Jews, but also people like gypsies, Slavs, homosexuals and the mentally disabled, all because the Nazis thought that they were inferior, which was sickening.

“We learned that Jews only made up one per cent of Germany at the time of World War II, and how Hitler saw the Aryan Race as superior to Jews because of their blonde hair and blue eyes. Which is ironic since Hitler had none of those traits. He wasn’t even German, he was Austrian!

“We also watched some interviews with survivors. We learned that life during that time was horrible for the Jews, who weren’t treated like normal people and were made to wear a ‘Yellow Star of David’ that identified them as Jewish.

“Overall, the incursion showed us just how horrible the actions and events of the Holocaust were and will help us to understand some things in our novel Once. Dominic, Melton Campus