By Luke M, Year 8
On Friday January 20th, Years 6 to 8 were treated to an interesting talk presented by a charity called, ‘Generation 2 Generation’, widening the year groups' understanding of the Holocaust. Sent to represent the company was Judith Hayman, who shared her, and her family’s past experiences from the beginning to the end of the war.
The information given was interesting and was greeted with shock. We learned about Kristallnacht, the 9th-10th November 1938, when German soldiers were ordered to smash up and set fire to Jewish property, and firefighters were ordered to only put the flames out if they spread to non-Jewish households.
After the Anschluss, when Germany invaded Austria, Judith Hayman’s mother, who was seventeen years old, decided she had to leave Austria. Whilst waiting in the queue at the visa office, a German soldier came up to her and said, “You’re a pretty girl, go to the front of the queue.” Her mother explained that many others were ahead of her and that she couldn’t queue jump. The soldier pointed his gun at her and growled,” If you know what’s good for you, get to the front of the queue.” Judith Haymann’s mother got a visa and left for England. Only afterwards did she realise what happened to the hundreds who could not get out and were sent to camps.
For those Jewish people trapped in Austria, myself and other pupils thought that people could just say that they were not Jewish or not wear the star on their clothing, but this was impossible. The Germans were really good at keeping records. Passports and IDs would have a big red J on them so Jews could be identified easily by the higher powers and every Jewish man would have the middle name, ‘Israel’, and women would be given the middle name ‘Sarah’ so they could be easily identified.
Judith Hayman lost many members of her family who died in Nazi concentration camps. She will always be grateful to Britain who welcomed her as a refugee. On arriving in this country she lived in Birmingham and was employed in a munitions factory during the war.
By Devan G, Year 6
On Wednesday 18th January 2023, Mr Stanley gave many personal anecdotes and fascinating thoughts on the Apartheid, which was a system of racial segregation that existed in South Africa between 1948 and 1994. Mr Stanley was born in South Africa during the Apartheid and gave his incredible account to the pupils in Year 6; Mr Stanley emotionally shared that the Apartheid was, “dehumanising, evil and hugely damaging.”
The children in Year 6 were astounded by the facts (well most of them), as well as the teachers who listened in awe. In particular, one anecdote that shocked many students was that when Mr Stanley was young, his mother was driving him to school and the car suddenly jolted to a stop. As Mr Stanley stared forward, he saw a black man running for his life just in front of the car as two white policemen chased after him. Moments after, the two officers tackled him to the floor and arrested him, for simply not having a pass to enter the town occupied by white citizens.
Mr Stanley also told the students about the brutal protests that included the army; one which Mr Stanley lived through was the Soweto Uprising which included a massacre of 176 black students. It is estimated that 20,000 students took part in the protests and some took part outside the University where Mr Stanley worked.
By Roma S and Sophie G, Year 6
Year 6 learnt so much from Mr Stanley’s talk and we will use it in context when describing parts of life during Apartheid as we study the novel, Journey to Jo’burg, by Beverley Naidoo. It was lovely to have Mr Stanley talk to Year 6 about his life. We would like to thank him for giving up his time to come and talk to us.
By Amelie S, Year 6
Miss Senior’s Grandpa grew up in South Africa and has shared with us his memories from his childhood.
As a young child in South Africa, at the time of Apartheid, Julian Senior experienced some life-changing events.
Firstly, let's start at the very beginning when Julian was born in 1938 in Johannesburg. His family didn't have much money, but being white came with some privileges. Black people were only permitted to live in some places and they had to carry a pass to show who they worked for and where. Julian’s family had three black people working for them, including Joel the cook, and Paulus the gardener.
One day, Julian’s mother asked Joel to go get some bread for them to eat, so Joel picked up his bicycle and cycled to the shops. All of a sudden, a police car drove up to Joel and asked to see his pass, but there was one problem - Joel didn't have his pass with him! The police arrested Joel and threw him in prison to await a trial. Julian said, “We were not told of his fate for a week or so. We were extremely worried about him and what had happened to him, and only after many desperate appeals from my mother - and the production of his Pass - did he obtain his release and a stern warning from the police. His bicycle was never recovered.”
Secondly, one of the other atrocities that Julian witnessed when he was young, was that an elderly black woman had fainted near his school bus stop, and white people had helpfully lifted her to the nearest bench, which happened to be a bench for white people only. When the police passed, they ordered her to be moved off the white bench and put on the ground. Sadly she died before a non-white ambulance could get there. This was awful.
There were lots of different ethnic tribes in South Africa and Paulus, Julian’s gardener, was a strong proud member of the Zulu tribe. He had passed the test when you were a toddler to lie on the roof for the whole night: if you survived you were accepted. If you did not succeed, you would have died on the roof. This was to see whether you were strong enough to be in the tribe.
Unfortunately, Paulus was in the Senior’s house when the government set a new rule out, saying that if you were black, you could only live in a certain area, which meant that Paulus’ Zulu tribal lands became a Xhosa area. He was restricted from going back to his Zulu tribal lands forever, and there was no appeal possible. He did not see his family again.
