Chichester: Holocaust Memorial day marked by Carl Davis opera
She said her organisation works to educate future generations."We did workshops and films which we showed to 200 schoolchildren, and always afterwards they are incredibly moved and feel they want to learn more about it," she said.But she added: "Being the daughter of a survivor has been challenging."I've been to Dachau. My uncle died in Dachau and one experience of a concentration camp damaged me psychologically."I know too much about the misery that was created. I'll never forget it but I don't need it punched in my eyes."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Platonic posh school Gordonstoun aims to mould society's new elites
Royal alumni include Charles III, a king; Prince Andrew, the much admired Duke of York; and leading diplomat, the late Prince Philip. Common or garden alumni include Jason Connery, Sean's wee laddie; Duncan Jones, formerly Zowie Bowie, son of David of that ilk; Adrian Utley out of Portisheid; tomb raider Lara Croft; and the late Roy Williamson of yon Corries (note to subs: please check that last one at least 10 times). The aforementioned Charles called Gordonstoun 'Colditz in kilts'. Writer William Boyd likened it to 'penal servitude'. Where there's a Gordonstoun, there must once have been a Gordon, and this joint is named after Sir Robert of that ilk, owner of a 150-acre estate north-west of Elgin, in the 17th century. The British Salem School of Gordonstoun was established in 1934 by German-Jewish educator Kurt Hahn, based on the Schule Schloss Salem for boys he'd founded in Baden-Wurttemberg in 1919. Hahn fled Nazi Germany after being arbitrarily arrested following the Reichstag fire. Previously, he'd written to Salem's old boys, telling them to disregard Hitler or break off relations with the school. After his arrest, he was released through the influence of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. Kahn had spent time in Morayshire while a student at Oxford. At Schule Schloss, pupils had to go for a run before breakfast, drink milk at mealtimes, do 45 minutes of athletics during their mid-morning break and, after lunch, lie flat on their backs for 45 minutes while a teacher or older pupil read aloud to them. All Greek to me SIMILAR sensible ideas were introduced at Gordonstoun. Hahn was influenced by Fred Plato, the Greek philosopher and founder of Platonic relationships. This classical influence was seen in the title 'Guardian' for the head boy and girl, a Greek trireme as the school's emblem, and a Spartan regime. Hahn believed freedom and discipline were 'not enemies'. Seeking to preserve children's 'inherent spirituality', he belonged, he said, to a secret organisation called 'the Anti-lout Society'. He identified six areas of personal decline in society: physical fitness; initiative and enterprise; imagination; craftsmanship; self-discipline; compassion. 'Twas ever thus. In 1930, he'd set out eight laws of Salem: root out suspected witches; provide opportunities for self-discovery; experience triumph and defeat; be self-effacing; enjoy, as it were, periods of silence; train the imagination; make competitive games important but not predominant; free sons of the wealthy and powerful from the enervating sense of privilege. Fair enough (ignore pathetic witches joke). The idea was to take pupils out of their comfort zones, blending outdoor activities and skills with a traditional private school ethos, modelled on his experiences at Eton and Oxford. Unsurprisingly, Gordonstoun had a total of two pupils at the start of its first year, but the number steadily increased until, by 1940, it had achieved its primary target of 250. Today, it has roughly 500 full boarders and 100 day pupils between the ages of 5 and 18. The school became co-educational in 1972. As is usual in traditional British private schools, a third of the pupils come from wealthy foreign families. Every pupil is required to participate in outdoor programmes, including seamanship. More deplorably, mountaineering is a must, though occasionally put to good use in rescues. (Image: PA) Cold Comfort GORDONSTOUN emphasises experience, as distinct from just sittin' aboot and, while cold showers are no longer compulsory, physical challenges still feature. The school believes exercise improves the brain and also claims to serve a diet that similarly benefits the old cerebrum. So, if you fancy oven chips, yir tea's oot. Another form of torture involves The Project, a practical assignment of the student's choosing, possibly a handmade boat, restored car or piece of music. They might also join an international project, building schools in Africa, digging wells in Thailand, helping orphans in Romania. The school's ethos inspired the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which encourages ingenuity and independence among young people desperately trying to avoid it. On top of their academic curriculum, students can do karate, horse riding, skiing, shooting things, athletics, cooking, debating, astronomy, performance arts, film and, sickeningly, golf. It has a football team, which puts it ahead of my pretentious state school, which only allowed rugby, hence my abiding detestation of that skill-free game. All children at Gordonstoun must exercise daily which, combined with all the other activities listed above, leaves just 10 minutes a day for a quick call to The Samaritans. With a motto of 'Plus est en vous' (There is more in you [than you imagine]), the school is mission statement mad, listing four pillars of its 'holistic education': internationalism; challenge; responsibility; service. Despite being named one of the best posh schools on the planet – and the ninth most expensive in Britain at £48,990 a year (Spear's School Index) – it has always had detractors. W.B. Curry, headmaster of Dartington Hall, thought Hahn's ideas 'incompatible with a really liberal civilisation' and 'the product of the tortured German soul'. Private schools are best known for child abuse and, in 2017, Gordonstoun was one of the establishments investigated in a Scottish inquiry chaired by Lady Smith. READ MORE Rab McNeil: Get your Boots on, we're going shopping for unicorn hair gel Rab McNeil: No wonder the whole Scottish nation loves Nicola (no, not that one) Scottish Icons: William McGonagall - The poet who right bad verses wrote still floats some folk's vessel or boat Scottish Icons: There is a lot of tripe talked about haggis – so here's the truth Already, writing in the Guardian in 2015, respected campaigner Alex Renton had highlighted cases, including that of a girl at Aberlour House, a freezing cold – ice on the blankets – prep school for younger children. The girl arrived there aged 9 on a bursary and was bullied for being poor and having a Scottish accent. Undaunted, she went on to become a prefect but, aged 12, fell victim to a 'serial rapist' teacher during a camping trip. Offences IN 2018, another teacher, Andrew Keir, was jailed for offences involving 13-year-old pupils. In 2021, the school acknowledged 11 cases of pupil abuse and 82 claims of bullying between students, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Last year, Lady Smith's inquiry ruled that abuse occurred unchecked for decades. She said: 'It was assumed the declaration of good intentions by founder Kurt Hahn was enough to ensure the school could be entrusted to provided appropriate residential care. 'At Gordonstoun, the assumption proved to be ill-founded, largely due to poor leadership.' Leadership: one of Gordonstoun's key aims. And not as easy as it sounds in a mission statement.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
Niusia review – hard family history lessons and taboo-busting humour
This story, told by Beth Paterson, is about her 'nanna Niusia … and I remember her as a bitch'. It is quite the statement about her 86-year-old grandmother whom she was taken to visit as a teenager, when all she wanted to do was go to the movies. To Paterson, Niusia was an old curmudgeon full of complaints and cruelties. But she proceeds to take us on the journey that she went on after Niusia's death, when she became curious about who her Polish immigrant grandmother had been before settling in Melbourne. It turns out that she had been Holocaust survivor, although, typically for one who had lived through its trauma, she rarely talked about the time 'before'. Under the direction of her collaborator Kat Yates, Paterson excavates her grandmother's past, beginning with her successful businesses in Melbourne, which she singlehandedly built. But the drama then spools back to the beginning: her birth in Warsaw in 1922, her ambitions to become a doctor before her imprisonment in Auschwitz and, chillingly, the medical work she was forced to do under the Nazi eugenicist Josef Mengele. Patterson's attitude toward Niusia changes after the airing of these memories, sourced through her mother, whose voice we hear in recordings. This is a surprisingly warm play given its theme of the Holocaust and inherited trauma. Paterson is a sweet, perky storyteller, singing at times and incorporating her play-making process into her narration. Sometimes this seems pertinent, other times unnecessary. She brings some taboo-busting humour to the subject, which also only half works. It defuses the tension but sounds like random lines from an edgy standup routine. There are life lessons for Paterson along the way, which she speaks aloud, recommending books that are in brown boxes and which she reaches for at various moments. It is clear that the disinterring of personal history is part of an education – one she now imparts to us. The narrative strays from Niusia towards the end, on to Paterson's Australian Jewish identity and the anxiety of not being seen as Jewish enough – which could make for a play of its own. It is ultimately Niusia's story that grips. Paterson puts on an accent to bring her back to life. We hear that she went on to have twins after leaving the camp. As Paterson says, isn't that the best 'fuck you' to Mengele? Quite. At Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 25 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Countdown's Rachel Riley felt threatened by stalker who accused her of being ‘ringleader of a cult of celebrities'
In another bizarre post, Felicity Lowde accused Rachel of having a 'sexual obsession with toilets' RACHEL'S ORDEAL Countdown's Rachel Riley felt threatened by stalker who accused her of being 'ringleader of a cult of celebrities' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) COUNTDOWN star Rachel Riley felt threatened by a convicted stalker who accused her of being the 'ringleader of a cult of celebrities', a court heard. She was mentioned more than 200 times in 855 blog posts published by Felicity Lowde. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 2 Rachel Riley's stalker felt threatened by a convicted stalker who accused her of being the 'ringleader of a cult' Credit: BackGrid 2 Felicity Lowde was banned from contacting Rachel for life Credit: Peter Jordan During the campaign of harassment, Rachel was accused by Lowde, 59, of heading an 'international conspiracy' involving JK Rowling, Stephen Fry and Katie Hopkins. She claimed they communicated via a secret code on social media. In another bizarre post, Lowde accused Rachel of having a 'sexual obsession with toilets'. She also referred to the Israel-Gaza conflict and said 39-year-old Rachel, who is Jewish, was 'complicit in genocide', City of London magistrates heard. The comments came to light when Lowde tried to sue Rachel last year. She accused the TV presenter, whom she had never met, of 'trying to defraud her creative work and family history' and trying to 'hijack her identity'. Lowde is said to have lodged at least 64 legal cases in the past year. TV presenter Piers Morgan compared her to Netflix's Baby Reindeer stalker after she made wild claims against him. Rachel reported Lowde, who has four convictions for stalking and harassment, and she was arrested. The Met Police applied for a stalking protection order on Rachel's behalf. Magistrates chair Dr Ian Cole told Lowde: 'Ms Riley said she fears for her safety.' Rachel Riley pleads for safe return of one-year-old Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas Lowde, of Chelsea, West London, was banned from contacting Rachel for life and from referring to her on social media. She could go to jail if she breaches the order.
