Hundreds of young people join Holocaust Educational Trust’s ambassador conference
'We are the way to keep the memory alive and stop it from happening again'
Hundreds of young people from across the UK gathered in London on Monday for the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ambassador conference, joined by Holocaust survivors, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, and leading experts in the field of Holocaust education and antisemitism.
Attendees heard from a distinguished line-up of speakers, including Holocaust survivor Uri Winterstein and author David Bolchover, as well as taking part in a range of historical and topical knowledge workshops exploring the Shoah and its contemporary relevance.
HET’s ambassador programme is made up of young people who have taken part in the Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz Project’, visiting the former Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau – where approximately one million Jewish men, women and children were murdered. Having witnessed the site first-hand, they return committed to sharing what they have learned with those around them, equipped with the confidence to speak out against antisemitism in their own communities. More than 32,000 people have taken part in the programme since its inception.
Ella, HET Regional Ambassador for Wales said: “As the Holocaust moves from living memory into history, I think it is such an important time for HET ambassadors, and all young people, to push more Holocaust awareness. We are the way to keep the memory alive and stop it from happening again. Being an upstander means not turning a blind eye, you have to get out of your comfort zone and make sure you’re standing with people, even if it means taking a stand.”
Uri Winterstein described the ambassadors as “all heroes. Being amongst them is so energising and gives me so much hope for the future.”
A panel discussion on antisemitism and allyship, examining what it means to stand up against anti-Jewish hatred today, featured Dean of Southwark, The Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley; HET ambassador Evie Robinson from the Antisemitism Policy Trust; Dave Rich from the Community Security Trust, and Leah Preston from the Union of Jewish Students.
Thanking the Ambassadors for the work they do, Chief Rabbi Mirvis said: “I’m so very heartened to be in your midst today. I can be full of hope knowing that you, together with so many others, are absolutely determined to learn the lessons of history and to ensure that, together, we will be those upstanders.”
HET chief executive Karen Pollock said: “Our ambassadors have travelled with us to Auschwitz-Birkenau, walked the tracks that led so many to their deaths, and returned changed. That is why they gathered today, to continue their learning and to keep these lessons alive.”
She added: “We do not ask our young people to change the world. We ask them to be upstanders, not bystanders: to challenge the joke others laugh at, to report antisemitism online instead of scrolling past, to stand by a friend who feels unsafe. Hatred spreads one step at a time, and courage can spread the same way. Our ambassadors leave determined to confront antisemitism wherever they find it.”