South West pupils take part in Holocaust Memorial Day conference at the University of Exeter

Pupils from across the South West have taken part in a moving academic conference to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at the University of Exeter.

This year marks 78 years since the liberation of the largest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the end of the Holocaust. The aim of Holocaust Memorial Day is to encourage people to learn about the past, to unite in remembrance of those who were murdered for who they were and stand against prejudice and hatred.

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 is ‘Ordinary People’ – to highlight the ordinary people who let genocide happen, the ordinary people who actively perpetrated genocide, and the ordinary people who were persecuted. It is also designed to encourage people to consider how they can challenge prejudice.

Those at the conference heard from Noemie Lopian and Derek Niemann, who have formed a unique partnership. Noemie is the daughter of Holocaust survivors while Derek is the grandson of an SS officer. Both shared their stories as a warning of the perils of extremism, and to inspire greater understanding. Since they began their speaking tour in 2019, they have talked at schools, universities, and synagogues, as well as being keynote speakers at a range of public events.

Pupils also took part in sessions with University of Exeter academics researching the Holocaust and its impact from history, sociology, theology, and politics. The sessions were designed to give them an insight into the complexities of the Holocaust and its broader context, as well as some of the contemporary issues surrounding its memory and representation.

The conference was established seven years ago by then University of Exeter student Barnabas Balint, now at the University of Oxford, to bring people together for a safer, better future.

Barnabas said: “There is still much to do. In recent years, we have seen increases in antisemitic incidents in our communities, continued human rights abuses across the world, and no shortage of identity-based hate crimes here in the UK.

“Antisemitism is an age-old hatred and it lies at the center of the worst crime of the 20th century. That it should continue to have a hold on our world today is a shame and a disgrace. And yet it does. There is much work still to be done.

“Just recently a report published about the National Union of Students called out the harassment that Jewish students have faced because of their race or religion, in what has for far too long been a hostile environment for young people.”

At the conference Barnabas paid tribute to the work of campaigner Barbara Winton, who died this year, campaigner and daughter of Sir Nicholas Winton, saved 669 Czech children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during the nine months before war broke out in 1939, arranging homes for them in the UK.