Holocaust Centre North tells global history through local stories, using the heritage of survivor and refugee experiences with a clear social purpose – to help build a better society today and into the future.
In this event we will highlight the resonance of that heritage today and the lessons for the future through the experiences of Martin Kapel, a child refugee from Nazi Germany who experienced shtetl life in Poland before fleeing to this country. Martin’s vivid childhood memories stand in contrast to his lack of any family photographs or archivable documents. Hear how an artistic project co-created with Martin in 2022, created a visual record of his experiences – and through the creative process, uncovered previously unknown family history.
We will invite audience members to join us in a creative activity to help them to personally identify the resonances for their own behaviour in today’s society. Drawing inspiration from some of our collection we will be creating a zine collectively.
We will describe how we use our archive of documents, artefacts and ephemera from nearly 100 survivors to underpin our educational activities. Heritage with a purpose, a history worth preserving because of its importance beyond tourism or school curricula activities.
To find out more of what is taking place in Kirklees across Heritage Open Days including on campus take a look at the brochure here: communitydirectory.kirklees.gov.uk/kcfilestore/?applicationReference=wi52obo5&fileReference=4mwu0imn