Holocaust Educational Trust

The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) is a British charity, founded by Greville Janner and Merlyn Rees[1]:2 in 1988, whose aim is to "educate young people of every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today."[2] Its chairman is Greville Janner and its president is R. Stephen Rubin.[1][3] Its Honorary Patrons include the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, Lord Dholakia, Lord Mackay of Clashfern and Elie Wiesel.[1]:28

The HET states that one of its earliest achievements was ensuring that the Holocaust formed part of the National Curriculum for history.[2]

Contents

Work

Under its "Outreach Programme", the HET arranges visits to schools by Holocaust survivors, often accompanied by one of its own educators.[1]:6 The trust helps several hundred teachers a year to teach more effectively about the Holocaust, including both PGCE students and practising teachers.[1]:7 The trust organises an annual intensive ten-day course in Israel for teachers, in partnership with the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem.[1]:15-17

Lessons from Auschwitz Project

The trust arranges visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau for sixth-form students and police officers. A Guardian reporter who accompanied such a visit in 1999 wrote:

Trust members knew from experience, both personal and from the teachers' trip to Auschwitz earlier this year, that this visit would be tough. [...] Seeing one horrendous exhibit after another was relentless and exhausting - many of us ended up numb, stunned, freezing cold. Then we felt awful - how dare we find it too much after a few hours?[4]

In 2006, more than 400 students made such visits.[1]:8-9 This project is supported by a £1.5 million grant from the Treasury, enabling two students from every secondary school and further education college in Britain to visit Auschwitz each year. The trust asks students on this programme to report on their visit to their schools and the wider community, and chooses one pair of students as the HET's "student ambassadors" for the year.[1]:10-11;14-15

British Hero of the Holocaust award

From 2008, the Trust campaigned to have British people such as Frank Foley, who had assisted in the rescue of Holocaust victims, posthumously recognised with official British Honours. The Government created the British Hero of the Holocaust medal, awarding it in March 2010 to 25 people posthumously, as well as to Sir Nicholas Winton and Denis Avey.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Annual Report 2006" (pdf). Holocaust Educational Trust. 2006. http://www.het.org.uk/docs/annual_report_2006_0.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
  2. ^ a b "About the Holocaust Educational Trust". Holocaust Educational Trust. n.d.. http://www.het.org.uk/content.php?page_id=5. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
  3. ^ "Lord Janner of Braunstone QC". www.grevillejanner.org.uk. n.d.. http://www.grevillejanner.org.uk/charity.html. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
  4. ^ Emily Moore (9 November 1999). "Lessons in death". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3927499,00.html. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
  5. ^ "Britons honoured for holocaust heroism". The Telegraph. 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5o6rljVNN. Retrieved 9 March 2010. 

External links