Junior soldiers visit Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre

Trainees from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate are taking part in a new study programme to learn about World War II 

JUNIOR soldiers taking their first steps towards a career in the Armed Forces are being exposed to poignant personal stories of Holocaust survivors as part of their training about the realities of war. 

Trainees from the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) are taking part in a new study programme to learn about World War II, at the University-based Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre. 

The hope is that by showing the teenagers what happened in the past, how propaganda contributed to war and the role of bystanders in conflict, they can understand how situations can develop and escalate, and be prepared should they face anything similar.

The junior soldiers, aged 16 to 18, complete a six-month or one-year full-time course at the College before moving into initial trade training. Around 1,600 students pass through the college each year and its summer graduation is the largest in the country. 

As part of their Military Studies, the recruits visit Normandy to learn about the D-Day Landings, but the Army was also keen they understand personal stories of war and moral decision making. 

Students who visit the Centre can reflect on the individual experiences of survivors included in its Through Our Eyes exhibition, many of whom were a similar age to the recruits when they endured the horror of the ‘Final Solution’.

Survivor Arek Hersh MBE also visits junior soldiers at the College and tells them about escaping death when he was taken to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp and the cruel persecution he faced as a young boy. 

“Programmes like this show that Holocaust education isn’t just learning about the past, it involves grappling with complex ethical and moral issues and their meaning for today.”

Emma King, Director of the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre

The Centre is run by the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association in partnership with the University of Huddersfield. The Association’s chairwoman, Lilian Black, believes learning the history of the Holocaust is critical to the Junior Soldiers’ training. 

“There were two roles in terms of the military operation. It wasn’t just the SS, it was the German Army that participated in the mass shootings, but equally, it was the British Army that liberated my father from Bergen-Belsen,” she said.

“This education makes people very aware of the choices that individuals face and how we can be alert to these things. It fits in brilliantly to what the British Army is doing. I’ve got the highest regard for them. I think it’s marvellous that they are coming to the Centre.” 

Director of the Centre Emma King added: “We were really impressed with how the junior soldiers approached their visit. They immediately understood the relevance of our histories to their future roles in the Armed Forces and we had some in-depth debates with them about military ethics, moral judgements, and the role of peer pressure and organisational cultures in shaping individual decision making.   

“Programmes like this show that Holocaust education isn’t just learning about the past, it involves grappling with complex ethical and moral issues and their meaning for today.”