StFX Psychology Students Remember, Educate About the Holocaust
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Photo: Happiness John
When the word Shoah is spoken, how do people react? What do most people think or feel? Confused? Maybe they’ve heard it once or twice? For some, Shoah may signify anti-Semitism, discrimination, and brutal massacre. Shoah is the direct translation of “Holocaust” in Hebrew.
January 27 marks Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year, 2020, was the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's hard to imagine that just 75 years ago, the world's largest genocide was ending.
This year, students from Psyc 441 organized several educational displays and activities to educate more people on what really happened and put the Holocaust into perspective. One of their main goals was to raise awareness of the Holocaust, and to make evident that genocide can and has happened again.
The class set up numerous stations where passersby could learn, interact, and reflect on certain topics. The first activity was comprised of two teams (divided by a visible characteristic). Both had to accomplish a similar game. It ended up that both teams, no matter who they were and what they looked like, could accomplish the task. This activity was to demonstrate how discrimination is unacceptable and how there is not and never will be a “stronger” or “better” race.
Photo: Happiness John
The second activity was led by two students. This display attempted to put the amount of deaths during the Holocaust into perspective. For a number of weeks the class had cut up tiny pieces of paper into squares to fill up a box. The class managed to cut 1 million squares. The box was full to the brim and every piece of paper signified one stolen life during the Holocaust. They managed to accomplish 1/11 of their goal which was one piece of paper per victim. This display is similar to the Paperclip Project: www.oneclipatatime.org/paper-clips-project/.
The next booth was based on building awareness and knowledge surrounding the Holocaust. A survey was conducted by a professor targeting StFX students. This survey consisted of questions about the Holocaust and the gravity of the event. The results were unsettling. The infographics on the display showed the immense lack of knowledge about the Holocaust among students.
The last section of the displays was much more independent. A quiet room was set up with posters along all four walls. The posters were in order of year from 1933 to 1945, with each year showing events, pictures and stories. Some graphic images showed children being separated from their parents and executions being prepared. This room was filled with students and teachers from all different degrees and backgrounds. As students made their way around the room going from poster to poster, they all had one thing in common: the look on their face. A look of despair and realization. A look of disturbance and disquiet.
Photo: Happiness John
In between the posters were biographies of some of the murdered victims. This was called the “twin project.” Every student in the class got a person with the same birthdate as them. They had to do research on that person, just showing how normal their lives were before the genocide. One student said: “This project was different, it felt very close to me. Thinking of how they had such a normal life and it all ended in matter of years.”
One of the main slogans surrounding the Holocaust is “It Happened once, and it Can Happen Again.” The Rohingya genocide and Darfur genocide are two genocides that are still ongoing and affecting people today.
With the help of Yad Vashem (The world Holocaust Remembrance Centre) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the advanced social psychology class put together an amazing event that showcased many important concepts and have made a permanent impact of many students.
