THE Courage to Care Exhibition at the Glasshouse took Westport High School staff and students by surprise last week.
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The year 10 students were privileged to experience the travelling exhibition which is aimed at educating visitors and students on the impact of bullying and violence, and the importance of the action or inaction of bystanders.
The program, which takes two hours, began with a short documentary film on how easily bullying occurs and how to deal with bullies.
World War II Holocaust survivors shared their personal trials under the Nazi regime and highlighted the fact their survival was the result of other people's willingness to act on their behalf - often under dangerous and extreme circumstances.
Students listened to the eye witness account of 95-year-old Holocaust survivor Lena Goldstein.
Mrs Goldstein told what she did to survive when all her family were herded into the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland.
She lost many of her family and friends to the concentration camps and spoke of the crimes she witnessed being committed on the streets by German soldiers.
Ironically, it was the humanity of two German soldiers that helped her escape.
She was later secreted in a bathroom for a year and a half, reading books to pass the time.
The lady assisting her and other refugees had to borrow books from numerous libraries to avoid suspicion.
The guided tour of the exhibition which featured artefacts, artwork, photographs and stories of both survivors and the Righteous Among Nations (non-Jewish people honoured for rescuing Jewish people) intrigued the students and enriched their understanding of this period in world history.
In the final workshop students explored their understanding of the experiences and issues involved in discrimination through discussion and role-plays in small groups.
Courage to Care continues at the Glasshouse until the end of August.