Cerys Wright, 22, Brecon (Wales)
Cerys Wright
For her project, Cerys wrote a blog post discussing the issue of antisemitism as a form of racism. You can read Cerys’s blog post here.
‘By writing this blog post I hoped to make people more aware of how serious antisemitism is and how exactly it can spread. I hope that making people understand that antisemitism is racism they will think twice before making an antisemitic comment or feel more confident in calling people out…
‘…I also wrote about the issue of conspiracy theories and just how dangerous they can be. Their snowballing affect makes them extremely hard to stop…’
Cerys’s blog post drew inspiration from the entire series of live sessions during the course, from understanding what antisemitism is, recognising antisemitism and addressing how to tackle it. The post was shared on her Facebook and generated conversations with people expressing how informative they found the post and how accessible it was.
James Hibberd, 18, Dudley (England)
A photo James took at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Lessons from Auschwitz Project in February 2020
James created a magazine to put together everything he had learnt during the course and to pass this knowledge on to others. You can read the magazine here.
‘…As a photographer I wanted to include some of my own photography in the magazine to add more of a personal touch and make it more engaging…
‘…The magazine consists of some statistics and history of Jewish life in the UK as well as my own experience with Jewish culture (something I felt was important to do to try and connect more with the people I am writing about) and some facts about antisemitism in the UK and how readers should respond to it and how they too can help the fight against it…
‘…Putting the project together has been a great experience for me and has given me a chance to really take on some of the information we learnt and to further my knowledge even more’
James laying a candle at Auschwitz-Birkenau in February 2020
Four physical copies of James’ magazine have been printed: he has kept two to share with friends and family, one for his college tutor to share with classes and the final copy for his college as a whole. In addition, he created a PDF and eBook version of the magazine which he shared with his college for them to share on their website. James has also shared his magazine on all his social media accounts.
Lucy Duller, 20, Edinburgh (Scotland)
Lucy wrote an article about her experience of taking part in the course and the lessons she learnt. You can read Lucy’s article here..
Lucy Duller
‘…I found writing up the final project quite emotional, the perspective I had after having completed the course showed me just how important tackling antisemitism is and the real implications for people’s lives. I felt so much gratitude to have been part of this course, but at the same time a parallel disappointment that this kind of education isn’t given to every child in schools…
‘…It made me worry for the future too, because antisemitic attacks have increased since the pandemic, but mostly, it gave me hope because of the kinds of people that delivered, organised and took the course.’
Lucy openly shared in her piece that taking part in the course enabled her to support a friend who was a victim of antisemitic assault. The course not only provided her with an understanding of antisemitism, but also equipped her with the tools to counter antisemitism when she was faced with it in her personal life.