Maya Zyl

Year 6 excursion to the Sydney Jewish Museum

Last week Year 6 spent a fascinating day at the Sydney Jewish Museum. This visit connected with our learning in Jewish Studies this term and with Project Heritage. We were warmly welcomed at the Museum by our wonderful guides, who spoke to us about the origins of the museum and how it was created by Holocaust survivors in order to educate the community about the Jewish people and the Holocaust.

We learnt about how Hitler came to power using stereotypes, generalisation and propaganda to persuade the German community that they were the superior race. We agreed that stereotyping was not a good way to categorise people and that this was unfair. We learnt about different types of Jewish resistance during the Shoah such as fighting back, revolts, hiding, writing diaries and keeping Jewish customs. By creating moments of joy this gave people hope and made them stronger inside.

We learnt of another example of resistance in a ghetto, where a painter and her husband had found a way to educate children about how to stay safe in the ghettos using art and games. After touring the Museum with our guide and seeing its photographs and artefacts, we were very fortunate to have Dr Kitty Lowinger, a Holocaust survivor, tell us her story. It was inspiring to hear her emotional story about survival and we had the opportunity to ask her lots of questions. I am looking forward to hearing more personal stories during Project Heritage.

Our visit also included hearing from a curator and sharing stories about interesting and unusual artefacts at the museum. We learnt about how museums check for background information for artefacts and so much more. Everyone had such an interesting, enriching day and if I had a chance to go back there, I certainly would.