‘To Watch Prejudice and Stay Silent Cannot Be an Option’

Guest blog post by Lara Smallman

Expanding on the theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, ‘Speak up, Speak Out,’ Natasha O’Leary, a student from Ashmole Academy in Southgate shared her reflections on a recent visit to Auschwitz with an audience of 250 people at City Hall on Tuesday 24th January.

Ashmole Academy has participated in the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project, which invites sixth-form students and their teachers ‘to take part in two afternoon seminars and a one-day visit to the former Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in order to then pass on the lessons in their schools and communities.’

‘I am part of the last generation who will be able to hear about the Holocaust from those people who lived through it, and who can speak about it’. ‘It is my duty,’ Natasha went on to add, ‘to ensure that my generation, and future generations will remember the Holocaust, and understand its importance. We must speak out for those who don’t have a voice’. Naomi Lyne, a fellow student explained how the trip had ‘given [her] a totally different perspective than textbooks alone could ever give.’

Natasha and Naomi’s words followed the personal testimony (which you can watch in this video) of Holocaust survivor Anita-Lesker Wallfisch who lost her parents to the concentration camps and who was herself imprisoned in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Major of London, Boris Johnson thanked Anita and went on to read the poem Shema by Primo Levi. Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy OBE, Communal Rabbi and Spiritual Head of the Spanish and Portugese Jews’ Congregation then gave a brief address before Abraham Jacobs-Wallfisch, Anita’s grandson performed Sarabande and Bourés from Bach’s cello suite and Thrinos by Tavener.


The London Jewish Cultural Centre, in partnership with the JCC for London is holding a screening of The Last Survivor on Monday 30th January at 7pm. This festival award-winning films follows the lives of survivors of four different genocides and mass atrocities: The Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur and the Congo. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Nikki Levitan, David Russell and Judith Hassan OBE: http://www.ljcc.org.uk/events/2059-i-the-last-survivor-i-br-film-screening-to-commemorate-holocaust-memorial-day-with-panel-discussion.html

More information about Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place on 27^th January can be found here: http://www.hmd.org.uk/

Find out more about the Holocaust from the Holocaust Explained: http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/

How the Italians Invented Modern Shopping

Guest Blog post by Vera Litvin

Lucrezia Borgia washing her hands, having administered poison to her husband.

Did you think shopping was a recent invention? Not so, explains William Tyler in the introduction to his The Borgias and the Medicis course. Apparently, shopping as we know it first came into being in 15th Century Italy. Wealthy Italians, like the women in the family of Ludovici Sforza - Leonardo Da Vinci's patron - went on expeditions to buy cloth, silverware, furniture, carpets and much more.

Shopping became so popular in 15-16^th century Italy because of the emergence, for the first time since antiquity, of a middle class with money to spend. Italy at this time was a bustling hub of trading, banking, culture and education. It was the place to be if you wanted to become a doctor, a lawyer or an artist. Italian bankers were trusted all over the world. In the large number of Italian universities humanist teaching emerged, which was based more on Roman and Greek classics and less on the Catholic Church. Italy was the cradle of the Renaissance – a rebirth of art and culture. This was certainly an exciting place to be…

Despite thriving economically and culturally, 15^th and 16^th century Italy had many political problems. It was not a united nation state but a collection of separate and hostile city states. These city states were ruled by a small number of leading families – the Borgia family gained power in Rome while the Medici family dominated Florence. On the one hand, these families were great patrons of culture and the arts. On the other hand, they were corrupt and legends of their crimes – from poisoning and buying office to adultery – are widespread. William Tyler will look at who the Borgias and the Medicis really were in this colourful course. Expect intrigue, intimate secrets and scandal!

The Borgias and the Medicis: Just Two Italian Families with William Tyler is on at 2.00pm on Thursdays. Click here to book:  http://www.ljcc.org.uk/courses/1985-the-borgias-and-the-medicis-just-two-italian-families.html

Or here to buy vouchers to attend individual sessions: http://www.ljcc.org.uk/vouchers/ (Vouchers valid until August)