Holocaust Centre North introduces Holocaust education to a new generation

What is the best age to introduce young people to the Holocaust? This is a question which divides both educators and parents. But one Holocaust museum says it has found a way to teach this period of history to younger audiences in a “gentler and more accessible” way.

This summer, Holocaust Centre North will be conveying the stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees, which are central to the museum’s collection, using arts, crafts, storytelling and object-handling.

Visitors will also be able to meet survivors, including Liesel Carter, who says: “Mine isn’t a horror story. Mine’s happy, mine’s a happy story.” Born in Germany, Liesel travelled alone at just four years old across Europe to Britain as a refugee to escape the Nazis. She lost her father and many other members of her family, but she was reunited with her mother in the UK in 1940 after the latter had managed to escape on a work visa. Liesel never lived with her mother again but instead made a new life with her foster family in Leeds.

The Holocaust Centre North runs a programme which enables visitors to meet Holocaust survivors and refugees who escaped to the north of England (Photo: Holocaust Centre North)[Missing Credit]

Head of learning Hannah Randall said: “By introducing young visitors to inspiring survivors like Liesel and enabling them to engage with other such personal stories of loss, hope and survival through creative activities, Holocaust Centre North brings this traumatic piece of history to life in a gentler and more accessible way.”