At lunchtime on Wednesday 15th April, 50 white and blue balloons were released into the sky from the field of Wallington High School for Girls, in order to commemorate the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen. Attached to the balloons were “pledges against prejudice” scribed by various tutor groups in the school; vowing that we, as a community, would actively abstain from and prevent acts of prejudice. The event was organised by year 12 history students Sophie Taylor and Anna Ludlum, following their trip to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland earlier in the year. The trip was carried out through an organisation known as “Lessons from Auschwitz”, which aims to educate young people about the crimes of humanity committed against victims of the Holocaust during the Second World War – and ultimately to ensure that history never repeats itself in the form of such horrific events.  

“In order to achieve this, all ambassadors were asked to carry out a ‘Next Steps Project’, where we spread the messages we learned throughout the trip to our wider community,” Sophie explained. “For Anna and I, this meant giving assemblies to years 9 and 12, spreading messages on social media and culminating in a balloon release to commemorate the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.”

Around 11 million people were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust – 6 million of which were Jewish. Other groups targeted by the regime were Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Roma gypsies and those with disabilities. The majority of these murders were conducted in concentration camps; many of which were intended to force the prisoners into performing manual labour, but some of which were designed exclusively to carry out mass murders. It is believed that around 20,000 of these camps were constructed between 1933 and 1945 across Europe, predominantly in Germany and Poland.

“We hope that this act of remembrance will stay in people’s thoughts for a long time, and act as a constant reminder that we all must work together to stop this hatred.” 

 

By Rachel Barham, Wallington High School for Girls