On Monday 15 January, for the first Scholars’ Masterclass of 2024 and the Spring Term, we welcomed Dr Alasdair Richardson from the University of Winchester to deliver a talk on the Holocaust. This moving presentation was especially relevant now as we approach Holocaust Memorial Day which will take place on Saturday 27 January.
Dr Richardson is a Reader in Education in the Institute of Education at the University of Winchester. His interests lie within Religious Education with a particular focus in the Holocaust. His particular interest concerns how students emotionally engage with the potentially traumatic discourses of Holocaust narratives, thus making him a suitable speaker on the subject to our pupils.
The terrible events of the Holocaust are widely documented and are well known to many. Almost 80 years on from the end of World War 2, the stories of how the Nazis and their collaborators murdered some six million Jews regardless of their race, country of origin, or status in society, are still talked about and remembered. However, in this talk, Dr Richardson spoke about the life of one family with a particular focus on one individual – Petr Ginz – who was not widely known to the pupils present.
Petr Ginz was a Czechoslovak boy of partial Jewish background (through his father) that under the anti-Jewish laws of the Third Reich was deported to a concentration camp at the age of 14. Dr Richardson told the pupils about how we know so much about Petr – through his now published diary and his communications with his sister and his parents.
The first concentration camp that Petr was deported to was in Theresienstadt. Even in harsh conditions, Petr nonetheless maintained his thirst for knowledge and love of art and subsequently became one of the significant members in the community. This was consolidated through his publications in Vedem – a periodical magazine at the camp for which he was considered one of the editors and more prominent writers.
At the age of 16, Petr was transferred to Auschwitz where he was murdered in the gas chambers. Yet, despite his death, his legacy still lives on through his diary, works, and art. One of his most well-known drawings is Earth seen from the Moon which he drew while in Theresienstadt. That yearning for freedom and desire to go to space is captured in this drawing.
Dr Richardson emphasised that this story is something that should not be forgotten. The theme for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is Fragility of Freedom and for Dr Richarson, Petr is who he will be remembering. Petr had a stable and secure life and instant it was turned upside down, thus highlighting how fragile a life could be no matter the stability held beforehand.
Thank you to Dr Richardson for visiting the College and presenting on this topic to our pupils.
