Admin : Due to maturity that these students have shown in tackling the subject matter in this video. We believe it should have as wide a viewing audience as possible, and thus decided to post it here.
A GROUP of Liverpool teenagers have created their own documentary about their thought-provoking visit to World War II concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland.
Members of Croxteth Gems Youth Centre received a Government grant to carry out their very own real life history lesson by visiting the site earlier this year. They decided to embark on the heart rending journey after discussing the rise of extreme right-wing political groups in Liverpool with their youth worker, and the terrible consequences of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.
The hour-long documentary will be premiered at Croxteth Gems Youth Centre next month. All of the filming and interviewing was carried out by the young people, who applied for a £5,000 Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF) grant to fund the visit. Prior to the trip, they researched the history of World War II and the Holocaust, which saw the murder of millions of Jews and other minority groups.
Hollie Poxon, aged 16, from Croxteth, said: “If people of our generation know how bad war really is, then we will be much less likely to start war ourselves. I’ve been doing lots of research into the Holocaust at school and at the youth club, and the main thing I’ve learnt is you should never judge a book by its cover.”
Youth worker Jean Hannah, from Liverpool Youth Service, said: “The kids first discussed issues surrounding racism when they were sat in Croxteth Gems Youth Club watching Coronation Street.
“One of our members remarked that a Polish woman on the show was ‘stealing English people’s jobs’. We sat down and discussed the dangers of pre-judging people and the entire project came from there. I am incredibly proud of our young people who applied for this grant themselves to find out more about important events in history. The film is absolutely fantastic, they’ve done a great job.”
Last year the members of Croxteth Gems Youth Centre also visited Normandy in France to find out more about both the First and Second World Wars. They visited the battlefields and trenches of the Somme, along with a number of war memorials and museums.
Councillor Marilyn Fielding, executive member for Liverpool Youth Service, said: “It is fantastic that our young people are taking an interest in such a serious topic and going on this trip. I am sure the experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
“Education is the key to stamping out racism and discrimination and making our city a safe place for everyone to live.”
YOF is part of the Government’s Aiming High for Young People – a 10-year strategy from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to provide safe places to go and interesting things to do. Experience shows that young people are more likely to get involved in positive activities when they have a say in what is available, and that taking part helps them to learn new skills, as well as divert them from behaviour that might be considered by the wider community as anti-social.
Liverpool Daily Post
Video hosted at Vimeo
