Pyne: ‘Never forget’
“THE longer history separates us from the Holocaust, we can start to forget how vitally important it is not to forget.”
That was the message from Education and Training Minister Christopher Pyne, who officially opened the NAB Education and Resource Centre at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) last Thursday.
“The Holocaust is the most graphic demonstration of man’s hatefulness and inhumanity to man in Western history,” Pyne said. “This was the most appalling display of an attempt at genocide in our history as a culture.
“That’s why it’s critically important that politicians, journalists, others continue to go to Israel, to learn about Israel, to go to Yad Vashem, to learn about the Holocaust and remind ourselves what we’re fighting for in the struggles that we have against those who seek to overthrow our way of life.”
Pyne added that the SJM plays a “critical role in educating everyone about the Holocaust, about history and how not to repeat it”.
“This Education and Resource Centre provides the opportunity for more people to know about the Holocaust, for more young students, not necessarily Jewish students, to know about the evils of the Holocaust, the evil that man can do to man, and how vitally important it is for us to remember the words of Elie Wiesel, ‘never again’,” he said.
The centre was built in response to growing demand for the museum’s education and training programs, which it plans over time to expand from 20,000 students per year to 35,000.
Describing the centre as “magnificent”, SJM president Professor Gus Lehrer said: “This facility will permit us to enhance the quality of our educational programs by using audio-visual resources to bring personal testimonies to students, even when the eyewitnesses are no longer here to tell their stories.”
The launch also saw the unveiling of a new education resource at the museum titled “Voices – Reflections after the Shoah”, which allows visitors to see and hear world-renowned experts responding to ethical, theological and philosophical questions that arise from the Holocaust. Until now, this application, developed by Yad Vashem, has only been available at Yad Vashem and Auschwitz.
The SJM’s existing library collection, which comprises more than 6000 volumes, video tapes, journals and 2500 Holocaust testimonies given by survivors in Australia, has been relocated to the centre.
EVAN ZLATKIS
From left: SJM office and events manager Aviva Wolff, Christopher Pyne and Norman Seligman at the opening of the NAB Education and Resource Centre last week.
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