Genocide Know More

Visiting Auschwitz p8

The Forever Project p11

Looking for Lemkin p3

Reporting on genocide p4 December 2018

GenocideKnowMore Marking the 70th anniversary of the Genocide Convention: written by young people for young people

NEVER AGAIN!

“Intriguing”, “shocking” and “important” were typical of the responses from the students who recently gathered at Hampton School to hear the experiences of three brave genocide survivors. More than seventy students from five local schools

Learn about the tragedy of Darfur through the eyes of children. p10

attended the ‘Genocide Awareness Day.’ In the morning we listened to emotional speeches from Ruth Barnett, a Holocaust survivor, Sophie Masereka, who survived the genocide in Rwanda and Kemal Pervanic, a Bosnian genocide survivor. After reflecting on what we had heard from the survivors the seventy students

Inspired to educate other people about Holocaust Memorial Day p9

split into groups for workshops where we authored reports, crafted animations, wrote poetry and created pieces of art all based on the often shocking experiences recounted by Ruth, Sophie and Kemal.

Continued on pages 4 & 5

Find out about the Rohingya Crisis from an eyewitness p7

2 Explaining ‘Genocide’ On December 9th 1948, in the aftermath of the horror of the Holocaust the United Nations made ‘genocide’ a crime. The word ‘genocide’ had been thought up by a lawyer called Raphael Lemkin. He was a Polish Jew who had lost many members of his immediate family in the Holocaust. Lemkin combined the Greek word ‘genos’ (meaning ‘race’ or ‘people’) with the Latin word ‘cide’ (meaning ‘act of killing’). The United Nations voted in 1948 to define genocide as being committed when someone intends to destroy , in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

The Holocaust

Bosnia 1995

Cambodia 1975-79

The Nazi regime and their collaborators murdered six million Jewish men, women and children. At the same time the Nazis persecuted other groups (like the Roma, and those with disabilities) because they thought they were inferior.

Under the cover of the civil war in Bosnia in the 1990s Bosnian Serb troops were ordered by their political leaders to force Bosnian Muslims out of areas they wanted. This culminated in genocide with the murder of 8,372 men and boys at Srebrenica.

In 1975 a radical leader called Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge followers seized power in Cambodia. They launched a brutal attack on ethnic minorities and religious people...as well as other civilians. Around 2 million people were murdered.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Darfur 2003—Present

Rwanda 1994

Genocide today

Darfur is a part of Sudan with a mixed population of black Africans and Arabs. The Sudanese government has used an Arab militia group called the Janjaweed to launch a genocidal campaign that has killed thousands.

In 1994 an extreme government from the Hutu majority sought to wipe out the Tutsi group in Rwanda. In 100 days around a million people were murdered.

Over the last few years the attacks on the Yazidis in Iraq and the Rohingya people in Myanmar have been recognised by many as genocide.

How does Genocide happen?

Genocide doesn’t happen overnight. The analyst Professor Gregory Stanton studied genocides and discovered that there is a process by which genocide happens. Stanton says that the group to be targeted in a society is: identified so that everyone knows who they are, abused, isolated and discriminated against before extermination. The final stage of genocide is denial where the perpetrators refuse to admit that anything happened.

3 Raphael Lemkin Lemkin in Poland

Lemkin in Sweden

Lemkin at Duke University, USA

When Lemkin was studying in Lviv he asked his professors why no one had been prosecuted for massacring Armenians in 1915. In the 1920s Lemkin thought about this more when he was a lawyer in Warsaw. He came up with idea for laws banning the killing of human groups. He called this crime ‘barbarity’. When the Nazis invaded Lemkin had to flee.

Lemkin was able to escape to Sweden.

Whilst he was in Stockholm he began to collect information about what the Nazis were doing in the countries, like Poland, that they had occupied. Documents were smuggled out of Poland and given to Lemkin. He began to realise that the Nazis were intent on wiping out every single Jewish man, woman and child.

Lemkin continued his journey in 1941. He travelled from Sweden, through Russia, to Japan before eventually arriving at Duke University in North Carolina. Here he lectured and spoke to groups outside the university about his experiences in Europe. Whilst he may not have used the term "genocide" while at Duke, his stay helped him formulate his ideas.

LOOKING FOR LEMKIN

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Lemkin after Duke

Lemkin and The Genocide Convention

Lemkin’s later years

Lemkin used his legal expertise to work for the US government after his time at Duke. Most importantly, in 1944, he published a book called ‘Axis Rule in Occupied Europe’ which mentioned the term ‘genocide’ for the first time.

Lemkin spoke to every powerful person he could find to persuade them to make ‘Genocide’ a crime. He finally succeeded and, on December 9th 1948, the United Nations passed the ‘Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’. It was a triumph for Lemkin.

Unfortunately, Lemkin died of a heart attack in New York in 1959. He was only 59 years old. Right up until the end of his life Lemkin fought to make more countries take notice of the Genocide Convention.

Why was Lemkin important?

We think that without Raphael Lemkin there would not have been the word ‘genocide’. Without that word there would not be a way to prosecute the people who commit genocide and maybe deter those people who are thinking about it.

Researched & written by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Haris, Ben, Fergus, Harry, Chris, Paul, Sam, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

4 Genocide Awareness Day Report Traumatic experiences Ruth, Kemal and Sophie bravely talked about experiences that still have an impact on them. Sophie told us that she did not want to reveal that she

was a survivor for a long time because she was scared that people would still hate her. Ruth denied her story for a long time because she said she felt ‘ashamed’.

Genocide still continues It was especially important to attend the event because the world still experiences the hate that led to the genocides that Kemal, Sophie and Ruth endured. Ruth said “Its going on right now and not enough people are standing up and saying its not acceptable.”

Reflecting on what we heard in workshops.

We all took part in workshops after hearing about the experiences of Kemal, Sophie and Ruth. Some of us animated whilst others wrote poetry with Kat Francois, a professional performance poetry. A further group created pieces of art with Caroline Slifkin, a specialist in Holocaust and Genocide art education.

The reports that you’re reading now were created with the help of Ms Bartholomew from Hampton School’s English Department The Genocide Awareness Day was attended by students from Turing House School, Reach Academy, Tolworth Girls’ School, Orleans Park School, Hampton High and Hampton School. Thank you to the teachers who took us to the event.

“Stories like ours can make young people think” Kemal Pervanic

‘Ignorance and Instability. That’s what breeds a genocide but we all have it inside us’ say Ruth and Kemal, One of the most shocking details to emerge from the day was that one of Kemal’s favourite teachers later tortured him in the Omarska concentration camp.

Speaking to young people Ruth was asked what motivated her to talk about her story. Her reply was: “I denied my story for fifty years because I felt ashamed.” She mentioned it took a long time but now she welcomes speaking in schools. “Its therapeutic to speak about my experiences.”

Kemal left us with a lasting quote to takeaway: ‘if my story can teach someone something then the impact of recounting the horrors will be worth it.’

Kemal, Sophie and Ruth speaking to us Thank you!

We hope that by producing these reports we can help raise awareness about things that we didn’t know about before the Genocide Awareness Day. We would like to thank Ruth, Kemal and Sophie for sharing their experiences with us.

It must have been difficult for them but it was so valuable for us. Thank you!

This report was written by: Swethan, Simrat, Anisa, Miki, Tom, Kit, Alex, Sean, George, James, Suzie, Kyle, Louis, Noor, Morgan, Melissa, Luca, FInlo and Alex

5 Poetry & Art Genocide is…

Genocide is like a deep cry that comes from the pit of the heart Grief is the consuming emotion at hopelessness longing for The life before you lost everything. Absolutely everything. Masses Of lifeless bodies spilt on the floor like a field of garbage stinking up the isolated cities

Wanting to be cared for but everyone turns a blind eye.

By YeaJin and Alex Genocide is…

The sight of broken buildings crumbling like dirt under foot People trying to run from gunshots and loss Genocide is…

Decaying flesh sinking into the churned Genocide is tossed tissues thrown down earth concrete The sound of children screaming It is blue-hued skin piled on top of one another

Planes flying with the promise of salvation or death

Genocide sounds like sirens beeping from every corner

The desperation

Genocide is…

The praying

Death. Darkness. Despair.

The pleading

It’s screams that seem to last forever,

The displacement

Echoing in my mind for what feels like an eternity

Genocide results in constant ringing ears Genocide is the neighbour, like a Ghost, it haunts for centuries on end.

Genocide is the tear running down humanity’s cheek

The tears and tension clouding over the dulled moon

A never ending torrent of panic and fear.

Rations of food are passed around make- It’s smoke curling in the darkness It is the acid rain pouring down on relax- shift families Blood dripping down my arm ing Sundays.

Oh how they miss the simple days.

The taste of salty tears, running down my

By Vasmeen and Samita face

By Beth and Linda Tear tracks like a maze of lingering pain It’s gunshots in the dead of night Muffled crying of children nearby Deprived of their childhood days It’s an overwhelming emptiness A confusion from the unfairness of it all The grief of lost smiles and laughs And at the end, there is nothing left.

By Matthew and Philomena

6 Art

Sophie, Ruth and Kemal take a look at the pieces of art created by the students.

During the Genocide Awareness Day students responded to the testimony that they had heard from genocide survivors Ruth, Kemal and Sophie. Some of the students worked with specialist art educator Caroline Slifkin to produce pieces of art. The artists were: Amelie, Charlotte, Anbini, Charlie, Ralph, Fin, Olivia, Humma, Chardonnay, Rameen, Jaina, Holly, Erin, Mollie, Samuel, Phoebe, Lucy, James, Tobias

7 The atrocities against the Rohingya and Yazidi peoples ‘This community has nobody to stand up for them’ A recent United Nations report that interviewed 875 people and surveyed satellite images of a devastated landscape has concluded that the army in Myanmar should be investigated for genocide. To find out about the background of what is happening in Myanmar we were lucky enough to speak to David Baulk, a human rights researcher who has spent years investigating the situation.

David told us about the warning signs that existed for decades before the genocide began. The Rohinyga are a religious and ethnic minority in Myanmar and were stripped of their citizenship by the government in the early 1980s. This meant that the Rohingya people had no access to education, jobs – it opened the way for policies of persecution.

Fast forward to 2012 - incidents of violence in June and October 2012

sparked the initial displacement of more than 140,000 Rohingya that resulted in them being herded into camps where they are still kept. The Rohingya people were demonised as ‘terrorists’, ‘illegal immigrants’ and the ‘other’. If this all sounds like a ‘textbook’ case of Stanton’s ‘Stages of Genocide’ it is no coincidence. Since 2015 the Rohinyga people have been subjected to mass slaughter, rape and one million people have been torn from their homes. In Myanmar the political leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been held up as a human rights icon by the west has remained silent on the treatment of the Rohinyga.

The international community has been reluctant to call what has happened in Myanmar ‘genocide’ because that would mean that they would have to act. The situation is tricky and complex but the member states of the United Nations Security Council have the power to stop the genocide. Whether it has the will to do so is another question entirely.

David said that the Rohingya people ‘has absolutely nobody to stand up for them’. We think that it is time that we took a stand on behalf of these vulnerable people who have suffered so much already.

Editor’s Comment - by Paul Wilkinson On the 70th anniversary of the Genocide Convention it is so important for young people to learn about the Holocaust and other genocides. Genocide is the worst crime that human beings can commit against one another and we ought to see from past examples how those in high positions don’t always intervene. This is despite the world promising that an event like the Holocaust would be seen “Never Again”. Therefore, it is up to our generation to save the lives of innocents that are persecuted. The aim of this newspaper, produced by pupils across the country, is to raise awareness of genocides and to give survivors a louder voice.

We hope that having read this newspaper, you too will agree that genocide education should be more prominent within schools, and that by only working together, we can do something to prevent further genocides. Thank you for reading our newspaper.

The newspaper was written by young people from: Hampton School, Turing House School, Orleans Park School, Reach Academy, Tolworth Girls’ School, Pimlico Academy, Abraham Moss Community School, Newport Girls’ High School, Hampton High

Interview with a Nobel Peace Prize Winner: Nadia Murad Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Nadia Murad has campaigned for justice for the Yazidi people ever since she escaped from IS captivity.

She was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

How did you feel when you received the call to say that you had won the Nobel Peace Prize?

"I was very surprised to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope that the attention I receive will make it possible to get justice for the Yazidi people and help ‘Nadia’s Initiative’ to rebuild Sinjar.

How will the Nobel Peace Prize help you with your campaign to get justice for the Yazidi people?

I no longer wish to talk about what happened to me and the Yazidi people, I wish to talk about what can be done to rebuild Sinjar. The importance of education in peace building and genocide prevention cannot be overstated.

What can young people best do to prevent genocide and make 'never again' a reality?

Young people must be vocal advocates — they must speak out against the persecution of minorities and sexual violence. Young people are the future. I hope that you will follow the work of ‘Nadia’s Initiative’ and support our cause."

8 The impact of a visit to Auschwitz Stolen suitcases, shoes and spectacles: The image that has stayed with me ever since I visited Auschwitz

Photo: Louis Fell

The most vivid memory that Louis Fell has of his visit to Auschwitz, was seeing the belongings left behind by the Jews who perished in the camp: the piles of their suitcases, shoes and spectacles stolen by the Nazis. Louis says that it was “a sight that brought a tear to many people’s eyes. That image has stayed with me ever since.”

Louis visited Auschwitz in November 2016 when he was in Year 12 at Esher College. His trip was part of the Lessons From Auschwitz Project, a government funded scheme led by the Holocaust Educational Trust which takes thousands of sixth form students on a one day visit to the infamous death camp.

Students also hear from a Holocaust survivor before they go and learn about contemporary antisemitism and Holocaust denial. For Louis the trip highlighted the importance of remembering

Louis Fell was a Year 12 student when he visited Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust. He was inspired by the visit to become an HET Ambassador and is committed to educating those around him about ‘the most devastating and industrialised genocide in history.’ the Holocaust not just as part of Jewish history, but as a part of the history of mankind - a stark reminder of what we are capable of when hate and prejudice goes left unchallenged.

After his visit to Auschwitz Louis was determined to go further. Louis has become an HET Ambassador and is committed to educating those around him about the most devastating and industrialised genocide in history. He has shared what he learnt to many people, and has organised a number of survivor testimony events and has written numerous articles on different areas of Holocaust history.

Researched & written by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Ben, Haris, Fergus, Chris, Paul, Sam, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

Louis says “With anti-Semitism once again on the rise in the UK and around the world, our work is more important now than ever before to preserve the memory of survivors and victims, and fight intolerance wherever we see it.”

The Lessons From Auschwitz scheme has clearly had a profound impact on Louis and started a journey we encourage everyone to embark upon!

Did you know? The Holocaust Educational Trust recently organised its 200th trip to Auschwitz. It has taken more than 37,000 students to the Holocaust death camp since 1999.

9 Inspired to make a difference “Everything depends on who transmits our testament to future generations, on who writes the history of this period” This poignant quote from Dr. Isaac Schipper, a Jewish historian who was murdered in the Majdanek death camp, exhorts

Holocaust and HMDT trustee. Barnabas was moved by Hannah’s story, which included her simple but heartbreaking words recounting the murder of her mother: “I saw her fall”. Elaborating, he said that she is a “truly remarkable individual” who is working so hard to ensure that future generations learn from

Barnabas, far left , with other Youth Champions, Sadiq Khan and Sajid Javid

Barnabas hopes that the young people who hear Mala will not be passive saying ‘This memory…is of little use unless we take action’. Genocides are, of course, not just done to, but done by, ordinary people. He warns that ‘In this country we are not immune from acts of hatred. We may not be facing the threat of genocide, but that does not excuse complacency.’

It is Barnabas’ belief that Holocaust Memorial Day should have young people at its very heart. Having spoken to many Holocaust survivors, one thing he finds that particularly makes these people proud and comforted is how ‘young people are committed to preserving their memory and promoting a better future without racism, discrimination, and hatred.’

‘Words are truly powerful’

Photo: Barnabas Blint / HMDT

us to never forget the Holocaust and raise awareness about it. It inspired Barnabas Balint, a final year History student at the University of Exeter, to make every effort to ensure that the awful history of the period could never be forgotten. He has become a member of the Youth Board of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust too and works to help young people across the country “to learn from genocide…and make a difference to their local communities”.

This is especially important as in a recent survey only 20% of school children could name a genocide other than the Holocaust – if we are to create a better future an understanding of the past is crucial.

her story.

Barnabas is currently helping to organise a conference at the University of Exeter for Holocaust Memorial Day 2019 to teach both schoolchildren and university students about genocide.

They will listen to testimony from a Holocaust survivor, Mala Tribich.

‘Words are truly powerful’ Barnabas says. He leaves us with both a warning and hope for the future, by commenting on how words can both cause and end genocides: ‘They can either lead to horrors, or, when used for good, make you see things in a different light and spur you on to do better things. In the end, it is up to you.’ Barnabas has clearly made his choice and is an example to us all.

Witten by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Haris, Fergus, Ben, Harry, Chris, Paul, Sam, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

A “truly remarkable individual” Barnabas attends many important events and has naturally met many extremely influential people such as Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. However, the most inspirational person he has met is Hannah Lewis, a survivor of the

Barnabas with other Youth Champions, survivor Hannah Lewis and Lord Pickles Photo: Barnabas Blint / HMDT

10 Darfur The tragedy of Darfur: Through children’s eyes Photo: Waging Peace

Photo: Waging Peace

Photo: Waging Peace

In 2007 Anna Schmitt collected drawings from children who had been forced to flee from Darfur. The drawings showed the shocking experiences that the children gone through in Darfur. They watched their mothers, sisters and grandmothers being raped by Janjaweed forces (government militias), they consistently drew scenes of carnage in their villages with burning huts, extreme violence such as beheadings and killings of citizens running away from danger. The pictures show ethnic cleansing which was heightened in Darfur in 2003/2004 but remains today.

Darfur: The forgotten genocide Have you heard about a place called Darfur? We hadn’t seen anything in the media about it and knew very little about it until we spoke to Sonja Miley, co-Executive Director of Waging Peace – an organisation which campaigns against genocide and systematic human rights violations in Sudan.

The violence in Darfur began in 2003 after years of government oppression.

Government armed militias began carrying out “scorched earth” attacks where villages of innocent civilians that had been discriminated upon for years were killed and raped. The violence continues to this day, mainly because the Sudanese government doesn’t want it to end.

Since the fighting has been going on so long (15 years) the media has stopped focusing on the crisis and has moved on to other stories. This means there is less pressure on the Sudanese government and governments around the world to take action. So what can we do? Sonja is very clear that “It is essential for the younger generation to take an active role in understanding genocides”, by asking questions, and by educating ourselves about ongoing situation in Sudan. Sonja tells us “The rest of the world is ignoring genocides in areas such as Darfur, and it is up to the younger generation to raise awareness.

You are the future, and your actions can directly impact what happens in Darfur, potentially saving thousands of lives.”

It is only right to campaign for everyone else to have the basic rights every human deserves and, Sonja says “Even a few people can make such a large difference.”

What practical steps can young people take? Sonja tells us we can all contact our MP and raising your concerns over the ignorance of the events in Darfur.

“Your MP has a duty to raise your concerns further, and can take them to the foreign secretary, and even the Prime Minister.” We agree with Sonja and urge everyone to stand up for what you believe is right, and try to keep pressure on the government. It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but can truly make a difference.

Researched & written by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Haris, Fergus, Ben, Harry, Chris, Paul, Sam, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

Stop press: In the recent budget the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced that the government was giving £1.7m to charities who run trips for young people to concentration camps & visits to schools by Holocaust survivors .

Stop press: On 16th October the government released statistics on hate crimes recorded the police in England and Wales.

The figures show that in 2017/18 there were more than 94,000 hate crimes recorded by the police.

11 Remembering and taking action The Forever Project: using technology to enable survivors to tell their story even when they are gone What is the best way of learning about the Holocaust? Ask any secondary school student and they will most likely tell you that meeting a survivor was an experience that they will never forget. However, each year survivors pass away or are no longer able to share their testimonies due to ill health.

The team at the National Holocaust Centre faced many challenges along the way. “We obviously had to take into account the age of the survivors to be filmed and their health.” It took five days of filming with each survivor to cover their testimony. Besides these issues Sarah’s team had to consider complex technological issues.

Sadly, in a few years time there will no longer be any survivors to educate us. Will their stories be lost forever? It was a question asked by Sarah Coward and her colleagues at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum where Holocaust survivors speak to young people every day.

“We realised that new technologies might be able to provide an opportunity” Sarah says “and we discussed this with people in the UK and internationally to explore the options.”

The value of the Project will be immense.

Usually it takes experienced campaigners or famous celebrities to make politicians sit up and notice. That didn’t stop Rozin Kalel Hanjool back in 2015 when she was determined to make the British government intervene to save the thousands of Yazidi women and girls who had been kidnapped by ISIS.

A petition signed by more than 300,000 people At the age of just seventeen Rozin started a petition which had an amazing 342,271 people sign it. Rozin met a government minister to

Sarah comments “These testimonies connect people with the experiences of real people, reminding us that every one of the millions murdered were individuals. By sharing their experiences of the growth of intolerance we can be more watchful in ourselves and in others.”

We think that the Forever Project will be vitally important way of helping young people hear the unique story Those discussions led to The Forev- of survivors even when they are no er Project – by using advanced digi- longer with us. tal technologies children and adults not only to hear and see a survivor sharing his or her story, but are also able to ask that survivor questions and hear them giving answers to hundreds of frequently asked questions.

Holocaust survivor Rudi Oppenheimer recording for The Forever Project

Making politicians sit up and notice the plight of the Yazidi

Photo: : Rozin Kalel Hanjool

Rozin talking to MPs in Parliament raise awareness of the terrible plight of the Yazidi but no direct action was taken. Nevertheless, she says that “Some of the parties like the SNP have been very supportive of the Yazidis in terms of getting our message across in parliament.” Rozin says that even though the perpetrators of the genocide have been forced to retreat the Yazidi people are still suffering through a lack of water and food.

“Their houses have completely been destroyed and will need help to rebuild” whilst others “are refusing to return to their town in fear of another genocide happening because there is no security for them.”

Hopes for the future Rozin is hopeful that the Yazidis will have a brighter future and is determined to keep helping the Yazidi people in need. She says “Yazidis are a minority that continuously gets targeted by extremists in Iraq. I’d like to think that 2014 was the last genocide for the Yazidis but I don’t know it will be and my passion to help the ones in need will continue in the future”.

Researched & written by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Haris, Fergus, Harry, Chris, Paul, Sam, Ben, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

Photo: National Holocaust Centre and Museum

12 Hate Crime in the UK today STOPPING HATE FROM TAKING HOLD Genocide doesn’t start with killing. It starts with language that breeds hate and allows prejudice and discrimination to grow. A look at the news or Twitter at the moment seems to suggest that the UK is becoming a more divided and hateful place. A seeming unstoppable rise of antisemitism, islamophobia and racism makes many fear for the future.

Owen Jones of Hope Not Hate says that there is “a small (and growing) fragment of society that is becoming increasingly intolerant of modern values and are very angry and the way society is heading. This is spilling itself out into hate against, immigrants, women and Muslims and they are being blamed for many of the ills we face today.”

Whilst it is hard to get a true picture of hate crime Owen says believes that “the most common would be Sexist hate crime.

Evidence shows that the vast majority of women experience it on a regular basis and only a very tiny proportion is reported.”

Witten by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Ben, Haris, Fergus, Chris, Paul, Sam, Harry, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

Much of the hate towards women is masked behind “boys will be boys” or passing it off a “playful changing room banter”, to the point where it is so normalised in society that neither the victim nor the culprit have any realisation what has been said is fuelling hate towards women.

So, what can young people do to combat hate crimes? Owen is very clear that stepping in to stop stereotyping and belittling jokes will have a powerful effect. “This is where prejudice/hate starts in people’s minds; that is the origin. If students want to combat hate crime I would suggest starting there – pulling people up on discriminatory jokes and negative stereotypes.”

Source: Hope Not Hate

However, all is not lost. Owen says that the data collected by Hope Not Hate “shows that the general population of the UK is much more open and tolerate than ever before, especially with young people.” Young people are more likely to embrace multiculturalism than any previous generation.

It is the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport this year. Students from Hampton School made a statue to commemorate the occasion.

13 Survey: What do you think?

Ninety two percent of young people want our country to act to prevent genocide A recent survey of secondary school students has shown that young people see genocide education as vital and that our country should actively find out about and intervene to stop genocides from taking place. More than three hundred students were asked a variety of questions. The answers showed that whilst the vast majority had heard of the Holocaust there was less knowledge about other genocides. Nevertheless, 93% of respondents said that they thought that all young people should learn about the Holocaust and other genocides at school. Clearly, young people think that we should take a lead in preventing genocide. An overwhelming majority believe that Britain should have experts who assess where the next genocide might take place and that we should intervene (92%). There was disagreement on the form that intervention should take with 54% saying that our army should intervene whilst 38% said that intervention should be peaceful.

Yes 91%

Yes— with military force 54%

No 68% Yes 32%

Yes— with peaceful means 38% No 14%

No 8%

No 9%

Have you heard of the Holocaust?

Yes 86%

Can you list any other genocides?

Main research & writing by: Rhianna Jones

In August 2014 fighters from the socalled Islamic State unleashed a genocide against the Yazidi people in northern Iraq. The perpetrators sought to destroy every trace of the Yazidi people by massacring, raping and kidnapping men, women and children as well as destroying their temples, homes and villages.

Even as the terrible killing continued Yazidi people were searching for ways to record what happened so that the perpetrators could be brought to justice.

One group, Yazda, approached research agency Forensic Architecture and asked if they could help in the process of uncovering what exactly had happened in places like the Yazidi town of Sinjar and who precisely was responsible. It was a huge task as, even 4 years on from the beginning of ISIS’s campaign against the Yazidi population, the situation around the Sinjar mountain is extremely volatile. The nearly hundreds of thousands who live in the villages and small cities around Sinjar have not returned to rebuild their homes and lives. The roads and structures are full of mines and

Do you think that Britain should take action to prevent genocides from happening?

and booby-traps left behind by IS and there are still mass graves being uncovered, adding to the tens that have already been recorded.

Ariel Caine was part of the Forensic Architecture team who worked on the project. He collaborated with young men and women from Sinjar itself, most of whom were in the region during the unfolding of the genocide. Many of the places associated with the genocide, such as mass graves surrounded by mines, were not accessible because they are still too dangerous to visit. So, Forensic Architecture and Yazda used an innovative mix of technology to solve the problem and ‘visit’ and gather evidence about the crimes committed .

“In Sinjar we used some of the kite aerial photography as a means to enable aerial survey under conditions where drones attract too much attention and are directly associated with professional survey.” Using kites alongside drones also made sense because they are cheaper to make and repair.

Do you think that Britain should have experts who can work out where genocides might happen?

Technology helps build the case against IS perpetrators Ariel thinks that the precise and detailed way that evidence is gathered by his team could be used to prosecute perpetrators of the genocide. He says “Time, location and authorship of each file…is meticulously recorded and accounted for.

And so, when a perpetrator is prosecuted evidence from the project will be used and can assist in the prosecution.” By using technological expertise and local knowledge Ariel and his colleagues are able to begin to reconstruct the ‘story’ of the genocide against the Yazidi from the traces left on the environment in addition to the testimony of people who were there. We hope this will mean that the Yazidi people will have justice for the crimes committed against them soon.

Photo: Forensic Architecture

14 The interview: Nedzad Avdic Q: Who do you feel was responsible for In 1995 8,372 men & what happened at Srebrenica?

First of all, Serbian nationalist politics was responsible which was lead by Karažić and Mladić. Everything was ready for killing: loaders, mass graves, trucks, schools for the reception of prisoners. Such a crime could not have been committed by individuals, my neighbours, farmers ... It was a wellorganised, systematic killing.

boys were murdered simply because they were Muslims. Nedzad Avdic miraculously survived.

Of course, we can not exclude the responsibility of the UN, the Dutch government and the international community that did nothing, and they could.

Q: How do you feel about those responsible?

I do not feel anything about the war criminals, they are monsters and let us remember them as such, who planned and organised the killing of so many innocent people without any reason.

No one can return me my relatives, friends and neighbours. Families are totally destroyed, there is no compensation for it.

Photo: Remembering Srebrenica

“If we talk about it 365 days a year, this is not enough, and if we all knew about it, it's not enough, because we see that people are ready to repeat it“ Nedzad Avdic Q: Was the international response effective?

Srebrenica was proclaimed a protected zone by the UN and then genocide happened under the UN flag.

Headteacher of Newport Girls’ High School, Mr Scott with Remembering Srebrenica Future Leaders in Schools Ambassadors Maisie Ingram, Leoni Bagnall and Elizabeth Harrison

On the 11th of July 2018, all students at Newport Girls’ High School took part in a sponsored walk for the charity Remembering Srebrenica. The students walked over twelve miles, raising over £1200 for the charity. This will go towards building a peace centre in the UK.

The international community reacted in Bosnia at the moment when almost all the objectives of the war leaders (war criminals) were achieved. Especially in Srebrenica, there was not any response, where they gave us a false hope that we would be protected, and then delivered us to the Serbian army and the police.

They can not say that they did not know what would happen, since all the population in eastern Bosnia was expelled or killed in the months and years before that. Srebrenica remained only one small enclave where refugees sought salvation under UN-protection and then genocide was happened. We believed them, and they betrayed us completely.

Q: Do you think awareness about genocides has been and is being spread enough?

No, awareness of genocide does not spread sufficiently. If we talk about it 365 days a year, this is not enough, and if we all knew about it, it's not enough, because we see that people are ready to repeat it. People are such that they quickly forget, and no one cares about someone else's tragedy. There is no state and there is no society that can remain immune to this evil.

But it is up to us to each individual to work hard and to talk about it, and to point to this evil, and if at least one person in the world changes their mind, that is success. These are small steps, but if we work together, we can change the world. I, who survived something quite the worst, devote my life to it.

The interview with Nedzad was conducted by Ella Postlethwaite and Lucy Skidmore. With thanks to Nedzad Avdic and Ms Seys.

15 Genocide Denial How the internet is fuelling a wave of dangerous genocide denial Nowadays, more than 55% of the world’s population have full access to the internet, but this also means that more people than ever are susceptible to the lure of false news and misinformation. The full extent of the spread of fake news is unfortunately illustrated in the recent killings in Myanmar, considered by many to be a modern-day genocide, in which the Muslim Rohingya minority are being systematically raped, mutilated and exterminated.

The worry, for Marks-Woldman is that the appearance of genocide denial in search results can ‘normalise the issue, especially when such sites appear professional and academic in nature’. In places like Myanmar, this means that genocide deniers are given a platform from which to speak, and a sense of

Fake news The internet has played a large role in spreading confusion, as well as individuals who have harnessed its power; for instance, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, Mehmet Simsek, recently tweeted a series of photos that were originally posted by an activist Facebook page, claiming they depicted the plight of the Rohingya, when in actuality they were taken from the 2003 Indonesian Civil War. There is a far more insidious problem to consider: what if it were not a government official, but an anonymous troll, that propagated such misinformation?

And what are the implications if they were to promote genocide denial, specifically in the case of the Rohingya?

First, it must be stressed that Myanmar is rapidly entering the social media age, accounting for the most Facebook profiles of all southern Asian countries in 2016. Compare this to only two years previously, when it was reported that 1% of the country had access to the internet, and the rate of the spread of social media can be clearly seen.

We spoke to Olivia Marks-Woldman, CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, who said that until recently genocide deniers had always been ‘on the fringe’. It is clear however that the internet has brought these groups together.

authority with which to do so.

In Myanmar, genocide denial can generally be attributed to anti-Muslim sentiment, and for this the spread of hate speech against the Rohingya Muslim minority is also rife in online communities that seek to debunk the idea of an ongoing genocide in Myanmar.

Genocide denial Martin Winstone, Education Officer at the Holocaust Educational Trust, explains that the role of the internet in genocide denial can also be more subtle and complex. When the internet first emerged, he says, people believed it would be a ‘vehicle for freedom’ in the universal access to information it promised. However in recent years it seems people are increasingly ‘directed to stories and sites that reinforce their preexisting beliefs’. Some people may be uncomfortable with their country being tarnished as a perpetrator of genocide, for these people, stories that deny the genocide provide comfort.

According to Winstone, the presence of genocide denial online is most notable in its power to cast doubt. Perhaps in the case of Myanmar misinformation could lead countries that would otherwise have vocally opposed the actions of the government to be more wary about making allegations, due to a general climate of uncertainty.

This in turn could help account for the Rohingya not seeing the level of intervention they deserve.

Whilst it is true that the spread of falsehoods online can dilute the urgency that governments and the media might otherwise have, the responsibility for preserving and protecting the truth falls on us all.

‘Civilisation is fragile’ Olivia Marks-Woldman reminded us that, ‘civilisation is fragile’ and should not be taken for granted. We all have a role to play in protecting it. For Winstone part of the solution lies in education. He said that whilst government investment is vital, young people should also be taught to be critical in their reading and know how to use the internet in an informed way.

As thousands continue to suffer in Myanmar, we cannot allow ourselves to sit idle and wait for a convenient solution. To quote Edmund Burke "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Report written by students from Pimlico Academy with thanks to Mr Carpenter, Olivia Marks-Woldman and Martin Winstone.

16 Stories of genocide Book review: The Children of Willesden Lane Reviewed by Luke Lawrence This is an incredibly heart-breaking true story set in the late 1930s. Lisa Jura, an ordinary girl in Vienna, loves to play the piano. However, after the Nazis take control in Vienna, her piano teacher has to stop giving her lessons simply because she is a Jew. Her parents decide she has to leave as the Nazis treat Jewish people in a terrible way and Lisa escapes Vienna via the Kindertransport – a train that takes her and other Jewish children to England.

Lisa enjoys life in England and meets nice people along the way like Gina, Gunter and Aaron. One day, she sees a newspaper cut-out advertising an audition at the Royal Society of Music. Lisa loves the piano so she goes for the audition. Did she get a place in the Royal Society of Music? You’ll have to read this book to find out.

This story is so heart-breaking that I couldn’t put it down. It’s shocking to actually read what happened to a young Jewish person in those times; normally, history textbooks don’t tell us what it was like for one singular person. This one, however, does and that is what makes the book compelling.

Can the ‘spy in the sky’ prevent genocide?

Researched and written by Jack Lawrence

Late last year we saw lots of satellite images that revealed the campaign of destruction that was being inflicted on the Rohingya people by the army in Myanmar. We wanted to find out more about how satellites are used to uncover atrocities and whether they could possibly deter perpetrators from carrying out acts of genocide. We were fortunate enough to speak with Josh Lyons, an expert satellite imagery analyst with Human Rights Watch who leads the team behind many of the images that we saw in 2017.

The first public case where satellite imagery was used to document a mass atrocity from space occurred in Bosnia in 1995, when the U.S. Government shared satellite imagery with the UN Security Council of the Srebrenica massacre. The imagery proved to be critical evidence of the massacres. This case powerfully showed how satellite technology could be used for to expose human rights abuses.

Satellite images have become a lot more accessible since 1995. Josh and his team can order an existing image from a data catalogue online and download within an hour.

If he needs a new image over a specific area, he can order or 'task' it online and have it automatically recorded the next morning.

There are many challenges working with the data from satellites, but the primary issue is weather. Most satellites cannot see through clouds. When Josh looked for evidence of atrocities in Myanmar he needed to wait for the weather to clear, which might be a long time in monsoon season. Nevertheless, when the clouds did disappear Josh was able to discover compelling evidence of a campaign of destruction of Rohingya villages last year. Josh’s findings were backed up and cross referenced with interviews of survivors from these villages to make sure that the conclusions drawn from the satellite images were the right ones.

So what does the future hold? For Josh “The future is now”. It is now possible to cover the world at 3 meter resolution. The challenge now is not a lack of data but too much.

To rise to the challenge Josh and his colleagues are now working with artificial intelligence experts to achieve the ability

to look for potential human rights abuses over multiple countries almost as they happen. So, could this mass surveillance prevent mass atrocities through deterrence?

There is, according to Josh, a big ‘but’.

Unfortunately there is no evidence that satellite surveillance has deterred anyone from committing major atrocities.

Josh explains that “Considering most [perpetrators] actively document their crimes for social media (ISIS being the best example), the critical issue is not the lack of evidence but rather the lack of political and diplomatic will to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes”.

When the perpetrators don’t think that the world will act against them they opening flaunt their crimes on social media to spread terror and intimidate opponents. “Burma is but the most recent example where the state was comfortable launching a genocidal military campaign in full knowledge that it was being actively monitored. The sad reality was that they simply did not care what the rest of the world saw, because they knew there would be very little consequences, and so far they have been right”. At present Josh and his colleagues do not document human rights abuses because of an expectation that it will deter violence in the future; only that the evidence he gathers will be used to hold perpetrators to account.

17 Researching genocide Students’ research reveals links close to home

Students from Abraham Moss Community School in Manchester have been working hard to research and raise awareness about genocide. They wrote pieces and created art work about Darfur, the experiences of Nadia Murad and the situation in Myanmar.

They even found out about the story of Albert Bedane, a man who lived in Jersey and who hid a Jewish woman from the Nazis. He was the uncle of one of their History teachers!

18 Anne Frank Anne Frank was one of 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Sadly, the lessons of her life have not been learned: from workplaces to school playgrounds, prejudice, discrimination and racial hatred still exist.

Since its publication in 1947, Anne’s diary has been read by millions of people worldwide. Laura Shepherd, London Regional Manager at the Anne Frank Trust UK, believes that by learning about Anne’s life and times, “we can relate what happened then to what is happening now in our own lives and communities. In Anne’s diary we can learn about the direct impact of prejudice and discrimination”. Anne’s eloquent and powerful writing describes the world of hatred around her, the restrictions placed upon Jewish people and the spectrum of emotions she feels as a result; fear, anger, isolation, sadness, guilt, frustration and many more.

Anne helps us to reflect on our own actions Anne helps us to understand the real and damaging consequences of prejudice and discrimination upon the individual and society. Laura Shepherd thinks that “by understanding this impact, we can reflect on our own thoughts and actions and how these may affect others today. Anne Frank’s story and diary is also an inspirational message of social justice and equality for all”.

Despite all that is happening around her she holds on to her ideals, stating “in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”.

Her diary is a wonderful demonstration and reminder of the importance of

‘A touching account of the challenges faced by a young girl forced to live her life in secrecy’

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Book review: The Diary of Anne Frank Reviewed by Isobel Russell The diary of Anne Frank is an amazing window on life as a Jew during the Holocaust. Anne’s diary begins just before the Frank family go into hiding, and describes, in heart-breaking detail, life in the skilfully concealed rooms, known as ‘The Secret Annexe’. The diary ends the day before Anne’s family is discovered by the Nazis. Anne Frank died a short time later in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

I really recommend this book, as it is an incredibly well-written diary and a touching account of the challenges faced by a young girl forced to live her life in secrecy.

Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the only member of the Frank family to have survived the concentration camp. He published his daughter’s diary, partly because she had always wanted to be an author, in the hope of raising awareness of how devastating the Holocaust had been and the impact it had on families.

hope and the belief that people can make a difference. Anne’s story is a source of inspiration and motivation to help young people challenge and take action against prejudice and discrimination.

Crucial work of Anne Frank Trust UK Laura Shepherd works for the Anne Frank Trust UK, an education charity that empowers young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to challenge all forms of prejudice and discrimination.

Laura says that ‘the dramatic rise in hate crime reported in the UK is a stark reminder of the crucial importance of the work the Anne Frank Trust does.’

A clear indication of this comes from a recent social media campaign that the Trust ran called #shoutdownhate which, Laura says ‘for all that it was supported and applauded, elicited scores of abuse and hateful comments.

Therefore, we believe our work is as important as it has ever been.’ We wholeheartedly agree.

Researched & written by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Haris, Fergus, Chris, Paul, Ben, Harry, Sam, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

19 Preventing Genocide “A memorial unresponsive to the future would violate the memory of the past.”

that she thinks about regularly and takes very seriously.

Elie Wiesel, the world famous Holocaust survivor, was asked by President Carter to oversee the design of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In doing so Wiesel was determined that the institution should not just be a museum but also a place where research enabled future genocides to be prevented. He said: “A memorial unresponsive to the future would violate the memory of the past.”

Jill explained that the Centre for Prevention of Genocide works to identify signs that something terrible is going to happen in a country. Warning signs are always there whether a country has a history of mass killing based on ethnicity, an autocratic leadership or an economy not open for trade. Once the Centre has spotted warning signs Jill & her colleagues will urge decision makers to take notice and to act. That may not always be an easy thing to do – sometimes they are successful and sometimes not. The Centre’s staff works hard to persuade decision makers that the reasons to prevent genocide are not just about saving lives. Instead stopping an atrocity from happening can also save money and resources or stop a threat to national security.

We were alerted to that quote by Jill Savitt, Acting Director of the SimonSkjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, in a recent interview.

Elie Wiesel’s quote is obviously something

Identifying warning signs

Jill says that it is difficult for the Centre to judge its successes – it is hard to count the genocides that didn’t actually happen because of their work.

Step by step actions make a difference Nevertheless, examples of the Centre’s reporting on the ground in Iraq led to the attack on the Yazidi people being called a genocide. There are no ‘neon light’ successes but step by step actions that make a difference. The altering of trade and military relationships are examples where the Centre’s work couple with the economic might of the United States can draw a country away from a situation that may have ended up in genocide.

It must be difficult to work in a role where success is when something doesn’t happen. Nevertheless we are glad that Jill Savitt and her team work so hard to respond every day to the challenge laid down by Elie Wiesel.

Teaching people that there are alternatives to ‘us’ hating ‘them’.

Nelson Mandela once observed that, “no one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love”.

Aegis Trust, founded by Dr James Smith, has taken Mandela’s observation to heart and is seeking to prevent genocide and mass atrocities by teaching people that there are alternatives to ‘us’ hating ‘them’. They have developed ‘Peace education’ equipping people with the critical thinking skills and values to resist language and ideas of hatred and division, & instead to listen, empathise and recognise their common humanity with people from different ‘groups’. It leads people to take positive actions to build trust & find non-violent ways to resolve conflicts.

Peace Education works in Rwanda The organisation has successfully implemented Peace education in Rwanda to help deal with its traumatic past. Following on from that Aegis was asked to support the peace building efforts in the Central African Republic. Dr Sam Rushworth from Aegis explains that “We have developed a “mobile exhibition” with real-life testimony & stories from the conflict.” The exhibition travels around the country and skilled peace educators assemble communities to think about their experiences as victims and perpetrators & develop increased understanding and empathy with others.”

Dr Rushworth also sees the potential for peace education to be useful in schools in the UK and Aegis hope to introduce it in early 2019. He says that “People sometimes wrongly think that genocide and identity-based violence only occur in lower income countries, such as in Africa, but history teaches us a different lesson.” Pointing to events such as the Srebrenica genocide and terrible murders such as those of Mireille Knoll in Paris & Stephen Lawrence in the UK Dr Rushworth argues that “identitybased violence and language and ideas that lead to it, are a problem even in our own communities.”

We think that teaching young people about the dangers of identity based violence could & should be a part of the PSHE courses that we have in our schools. If that happened all around the world maybe genocide would be a thing of the past.

Researched & written by: Maxi, Freddie, Pravin, Haris, Ben, Fergus, Chris, Paul, Harry, Sam, Chris, Louis, Egor, Hari, Ben

20 Sport

Photo: Eric Murangwa Eugene

Eric Murangwa Eugene: Football saved my life Photo: Eric Murangwa Eugene

By Maxi Grindley

As a football manager the great Bill Shankly didn’t get many things wrong but most agree when he said “some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that”. He was wrong. For no one is football more serious than death, yet for a few, football does end up being a matter of life or death.

The moment that football saved Eric’s life One such man is Eric Murangwa Eugene, a former captain of the Rwandan national team and goalkeeper for Rayon Sports, one of the top Rwandan football teams. The moment football saved his life was in the midst of the genocide in Rwanda, in which over a million Tutsis were killed by the majority ethnic group, the Hutus on the orders of the government. In April 1994, after the assassination of the Rwandan President, Juvenal Habyarimana, extreme Hutus aided by national propaganda, began a merciless campaign, aimed at exterminate the Tutsi population.

A day into this campaign Eric, a Tutsi, found himself face down in his own flat, as several soldiers searched the room.

While Eric tried to tell the soldiers he played for Rayon Sports, one soldier shouted at him “You’re lying to me...

We were going to kill you later but now you have fast-tracked your death.”

Luckily, one of the other soldiers randomly threw up a photo album as he searched.

The book fell open on a page of photos of him and his Rayon Sports teammates.

The soldier studied the photos for several moments before asking Eric, “Are you Toto?”, which was his nickname.

When Eric said yes, the soldier was shocked and disbelievingly said “Wow. How are you?” While Eric could use his football connection to save his roommate and the neighbours, he was unable to save his domestic helper, who was shot within earshot of Eric. The fact he has now forgotten his name still saddens Eric.

Eric’s team-mate saved him but was unfortunately killed The following months were not any easier for Eric, as he first went to his parents house before continuing to a house, four of his teammates shared.

He credits one of these teammates, Longin, as his saviour. Longin acted as negotiator on the multiple occasions when members of the militia came to the house and threatened to kill Eric.

Photo: Eric Murangwa Eugene

Eventually it was decided Eric would have to flee. After pretending to be a UN part-time worker, the UN eventually negotiated his escape to parts of Rwanda under RPF control. Only after the Tutsi dominated rebel army had taken control of the capital, and whole country, could the death toll be counted. Longin, the man who had done so much to help Eric, was killed trying to save his Tutsi girlfriend, while Eric’s seven-year-old brother Irankunda Jean Paul and 35 other extended family members were was also killed during the 100 days of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Eric uses sport to prevent genocide and has received an MBE for his work.

Photo: Eric Murangwa Eugene

Today Eric use the power of sport and storytelling to build tolerance, equality and lasting peace Today Eric lives in the UK, having been granted asylum in 1997. Since then he has worked to prevent another genocide ever happening. Through his organisation, the Ishami Foundation he uses the power of sport and storytelling to build tolerance, equality and lasting peace in Rwanda and the UK. Some of Ishami’s activities are to organise for genocide survivors to give talks in local school and communities to talk about what they experienced. It was at one of these talks in my school that I met Eric and learned about his remarkable story.