HET in Washington: Days 1 - 3

Sunday 27^th July – 

Yad Vashem, Israel, 2013

Today, myself and 16 other Regional Ambassadors for the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) fly out to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, for a week of intense study to further our knowledge of the holocaust and learn about our roles in genocide prevention today. It’s quite a poignant callout for me, particularly as this time last year we were all visiting a seemingly peaceful Israel where people roamed unrestricted through the streets of Jerusalem. If only the whole of Israel/Palestine reflected that freedom.

This week I will be updating my blog with things I have learned, debates I have struck, struggles I have seen and wonderful moments I have shared with my fellow ambassadors. Taking into account the state of affairs around the world today, I feel more driven than ever to do something about it. Learning about perhaps the greatest example of persecution and genocide, is something I can only ever benefit from in applying these lessons to, in some small way, make a difference.


Monday 28th July

Day 1 at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and today we met the 'Bringing the Lessons Home' Ambassadors who showed us around the permanent exhibition. Their knowledge was expansive and I really enjoyed our tour of exhibition. It actually ended up to be a transferral of knowledge from both sides. We shared with them, our experiences of testimonies and sites we had visited and they shared with us their own recollections and factual knowledge. I was very grateful to our guide for allowing us to get involved. It is also encouraging to know that there are other ambassadors across the world who do what we do. They share with us the responsibility to keep the memory of the holocaust alive and that touched me more than I thought it would. It's like being a part of a community that I never knew existed, and it's global.

Dora Klayman

Later we heard from holocaust survivor Dora Klayman. She shared with us her amazing story of survival, having been supported by a community in Ludbreg. She went into hiding with a German family, the Runjaks, along with her brother Zdravko after her parents and aunt had been denounced and deported. This Catholic family kept them safe within their family with three other children of their own. Dora told us of the local community in Ludbreg, many of whom had joined the Partisans and in solidarity, kept quiet about Dora's existence. Having served a period of detainment in Jasenovac, Dora's uncle returned and they became a family again. Sadly, Zdravko passed away at just 5yrs old in 1946 from Scarlet Fever due to an absence of Penicillin. Her uncle adopted her and she refused adoption from other relatives that had survived. In 1954, she visited family in Switzerland and stayed there, and studied English. She met her husband on a train towards Venice and eventually moved to Washington DC. Dora is a wonderful person and I value very much the story that she shared with us. It is one of the first testimonies I have herd that did not involve transportation to the East and it restored a little faith in humanity that some, were willing to put themselves at risk, to help another.

You can listen to a podcast from Dora here: https://ushmm.org/museum/publicprograms/programs/firstperson/podcast/detail.php?EventId=5E349346-52B8-4B7D-9504-F9F616906759

HET Regional Ambassadors with Survivor Dora Klayman

Tuesday 29th July

Today we had a morning of studying the role of collaboration in the holocaust. More than that though, we were thinking about complicity. How easy is it for us to be complicit in our everyday lives, turn a blind eye to those less fortunate, stay quiet about conflict across the world? In the terms of the holocaust we explored the role of ordinary men and women of Europe and the investment they made in the Nazi party. We explored how some stood by and others waged a war of their own in trying to help the victims of the Nazi regime. Assessing responsibility and guilt for these people was extremely challenging. How could we possibly judge a child who wanted to joined the Hitler Youth when all they'd ever known was Nazism? We can't, can we?

Then, on our tour around Washington we visited the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. Perhaps the most poignant moment of these visits, was when I stopped to talk to the protestor sat outside the White House. His story was incredible. His father had fought and died in the Vietnam war, leaving him and his two brothers in the care of their mother who became very fragile. Even more tragic is that his father never knew of the existence of his youngest son, conceived during his last visit home. The boys took to caring for themselves, doing things they perhaps shouldn't have, for money to get by. They got so accustomed to running for their lives, or from the police that all three brothers gained scholarships to college for their sporting ability. He now sits among others outside the White House in the pitch that has been situated there since 1984. An incredible story and one that really encompassed the spirit that we had been approaching all day. He refuses to be complicit in the ongoing conflicts around the world, having seen the damage they can do to a family worldwide and I am extremely grateful that I heard his story.



THE REST OF THE WEEK CONTINUES IN MY NEXT POST....