Students at HArtlepool school get to meet brave Holocaust survivor

Holocaust survivor Marc Schatzberger talking to (left to right) Jonathon Hyde (deputy head boy),Steffi Ellison (head girl), Annabelle Thomas (deputy head girl) and Louis Nixon (head boy) at High Tunstall College of Science. Picture by FRANK REID

Year 9 students from High Tunstall College of Science heard the testimony from Holocaust survivor, Marc Schatzberger, as part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

After speaking to the children Marc took part in a question and answer session to enable the young people to better understand the nature of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth.

Holocaust survivor Marc Schatzberger talking to Year9 pupils at High Tunstall College of Science. Picture by FRANK REID

The visit was part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s extensive all year round Outreach Programme, which is available to schools across the UK.

Marc was just 12 when he fled Austria in 1939 during the outbreak of the Second World War. His parents were Jewish and for his safety sent him to England. They were later murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

Mark Tilling, headteacher at High Tunstall College of Science, said: “It was a privilege for us to welcome Marc Schatzberger to our school and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.

“We are grateful to the Holocaust Educational Trust for co-ordinating the visit and we hope that by hearing Marc’s testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives.”

Holocaust survivor Marc Schatzberger. Picture by FRANK REID

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, added: “The Holocaust Educational Trust educates and engages students from across the UK, from all communities, about the Holocaust and there can be no better way than through the first-hand testimony of a survivor.

“Marc’s story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing his testimony, students had the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead.

“At the trust, we impart the history of the Holocaust to young people, to ensure that we honour the memory of those whose lives were lost and take forward the lessons taught by those who survived.”

The Holocaust Educational Trust was founded in 1988 to raise awareness and understanding in schools and among the wider public of the Holocaust and its relevance today.

One of its earliest achievements was to ensure that the Holocaust was included in the National Curriculum for England in 1991.