Scottish Traveller Education Programme

	Welcome to STEP

	Contact STEP

	News and Events
	contemporary cultural events

	For Teachers

	For Children and Young People

	Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland

	Research

	Resources

	Positive Images

	Site Map

News and Events

‘IMAGINE—Remember, Reflect, React’: Holocaust Remembrance Scotland.

Holocaust Memorial Day, Monday January 28, 2008 at the Eastwood Park Theatre, East Renfrewshire

Hosted by the East Renfrewshire Council, Scotland’s Holocaust Memorial event focused on this year’s theme of ‘Imagine—Remember, Reflect, React’. Pupils from East Renfrewshire schools prepared questions in reference to this year’s theme and were present to ask the panel about the Holocaust and its relevance today.

The panel included Ms Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy First Minister & Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Ms Annabel Goldie MSP, Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Mr Ken Macintosh MSP, Shadow Minister for Schools, Dr Stephen Smith MBE, Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Mr John Loughton, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament. Chairing the Question and Answer session was the Rt. Hon George Reid.

Provost Alex Mackie of the East Renfrewshire Council started the evening with a warm welcome, followed by Questions to the Panel and Audience Discussion. George Reid did an excellent job chairing the session. The young people asked the panel members some challenging and thought-provoking questions. Many of which focused on the fear that lessons fro, the Holocaust may not have been learned given the ongoing situation in Darfur and the escalating violence in Kenya. The young people questioned what Scotland’s role should be in preventing violence. It was generally felt that the answers given by the panel were not satisfactory. Stephen Smith’s remark “I don’t think any of the questions tonight have been answered” was met with enthusiastic applause.

Nicola Sturgeon admitted that a significant gap existed in Scotland’s educational standards when the Rt. Hon George Reid asked various pupils if they had learned about the Holocaust in school. Most of those asked said they had only learned about it briefly in the context of history, if at all. The same question was put to the audience where the majority said they had not learned about the Holocaust in school. It was suggested by panel and audience members that the Holocaust should not be taught as an historical event, but as something that still carries lessons that can be applied to today’s society.

Kenneth Macintosh emphasised the importance of learning about the Holocaust and spoke of the trip to Auschwitz he organised for pupils from schools across Scotland. A representative from STEP had accepted an invitation to attend that visit. In response to questions about what could be done to prevent genocide and injustice today, he insisted that the course of action should be to promote democracy.

Annabel Goldie called the Holocaust the ‘most evil development imaginable’ and George Reid referred to it as ‘the evil that has happened in the past’. Scott Mackay and Stephen Smith, however, both drew attention to the fact that the present ‘evils’ in Darfur and in Kenya desperately require our reaction. They criticised the silence surrounding the violence in these regions.

The Holocaust was used as a reference point throughout the evening, and although all of the victim groups were referred to, including the Roma, there was no specific discussion about the experiences of various victim groups. In addition, racism against Gypsy/Traveller families in Scotland was not discussed.

The session ended with a vote of thanks from Councillor Jim Fletcher, leader of the East Renfrewshire council. All participants and audience members were then invited for refreshments and further discussion in the Carmichael Hall where artworks by local Primary 7 pupils addressing the themes of Holocaust Memorial Day 2008 were displayed. These works of art were produced under the direction of local artist Lesley Smith and explore the issues of prejudice, racism, grievance, intolerance, injustice and oppression raised by the Holocaust. Music for the evening was provided by the East Renfrewshire Schools Guitar Quartet and Folk Ensemble as well as by Williamwood High School pupils.

In all, the evening left many significant questions unanswered, but importantly it did identify key issues for discussion, including racism and genocide. For example, one young person asked ‘Is Scotland a racist country?’ Nicola Sturgeon replied that while there is perhaps room for improvement in Scotland, Scotland’s achievements as a multicultural society should be acknowledged. Audience members, however, responded with various examples of racism in Scotland today, including the difficulties that children from asylum seeking families experience. They are forced to face further trauma on arrival as a result of administrative requirements. Another young person drew applause from the audience when she suggested that the solution of the problem lies in addressing the current attitudes to violence.

These responses highlighted why Holocaust Memorial events are still important today, why the lessons of the Holocaust should be taught in every country, and why there is a continued need for remembering the past atrocities of Nazi concentrations camps. In accordance with the event’s theme, the evening provided the opportunity to ‘remember the past’ and ‘reflect on the present’; it is hoped that it also inspired those present to ‘react to create a better future’.

For information about Roma in relation to the Holocaust, see the permanent site for Gypsy Roma and Traveller Communities:
www.grtleeds.co.uk.