Year 10 Students Connect with Holocaust Survivor Stories
Year 10 Students Connect with Holocaust Survivor Stories
As part of their History studies on the Holocaust, our Year 10 students welcomed presenters from the Adelaide Holocaust and Steiner Education Centre for an engaging and thought-provoking workshop.
The session began by linking the College’s Mercy values to the lessons of the Holocaust — compassion, critical thinking, creativity, and active citizenship — values that were tragically absent during this period of history. Students were encouraged to ask the questions and find their story — to connect with one survivor’s experience that spoke to them personally.
They learned about Australian activist William Cooper, a Yorta Yorta man who organised a protest march in Melbourne and wrote to German leaders in Australia, calling for an end to the war. Students also examined the discriminatory Nazi laws, discovering details such as Jews being banned from buying soap and shaving cream, or only being allowed to sit on yellow benches — measures designed to reinforce Nazi propaganda.
A highlight of the workshop was a live Microsoft Teams conversation with Holocaust survivor Andrew Steiner, who shared his experiences growing up in Hungary under Nazi occupation. He spoke of being forced to wear a yellow star, living in a “yellow house” for Jews, and surviving in hiding thanks to false documents and the kindness of a gardener. He emphasised the dangers of propaganda, the importance of remembering history, and the need to share family stories.
The workshop was a powerful reminder that history is not just about events, but about people — and that listening to and sharing these stories keeps their voices alive.
