Holocaust Memorial Day at CCF

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, the History Department invited Calum Isaacs from Generation 2 Generation, a Holocaust education charity which works with second and third generation Holocaust survivor descendants, to deliver a presentation to Year 9 pupils. Calum spoke about his grandmother Mirjam Finkelstein, who was born in Berlin in 1933. To escape from Nazi persecution, the family moved to Amsterdam in the same year. Through the use of filmed testimony, students were able to hear Mirjam describe her experience of being taken to Westerbork transit camp and then to Bergen-Belsen. Mirjam’s sister Ruth was later able to testify to the presence of Anne Frank and her sister in Bergen-Belsen through notes she had made in a diary. Students saw an image of the page from her diary which noted the day that Anne and her sister arrived at Belgen-Belsen. The family experienced tragedies but also miracles, and Mirjam and her sisters survived the war.

Students who visited the library on Monday also had the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust and discuss it with their peers.