Pupils design candleholder for Holocaust survivor

Students have designed a candleholder in memory of a Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to education.

Frank Bright, who was spared the gas chambers in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz as a teenager, worked regularly with Northgate High School in Ipswich until his death in 2023.

The candleholder will be part of a national exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of World War Two.

Macey, 14, who was one of the pupils involved in the project, said: "It just shows you how much history [Frank] held, even as a single individual person."

Northgate High School is regular participant of the annual Dora Love Prize, a holocaust education programme.

As part of the programme students develop a creative project that links to what they have learnt about the holocaust, which they present at a showcase event in June.

The title for this year's prize was: "Time to stand up against a renewed wave of hate and exclusion."

Year 9 pupils from the school designed a candleholder that commemorated the story of Mr Bright and his classmates, which has been chosen by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust as part of its 80 Candles tour.

Mr Bright used his 1942 class photo as a teaching tool, researching what happened to each of the children pictured alongside him.

In one of the many educational videos he participated in, Mr Bright explained his motivation to teach children about the holocaust.

"Well since I had the means and the energy to do, I felt I ought to bring them back into memory.

"Otherwise, like all the rest, they disappeared in oblivion," he said.

Speaking at the event at Northgate High School to unveil the candleholder, Liz Harsant, the chair of Suffolk County Council, said: "I was born during the war and I remember very well Auschwitz and the horrible things that we had to witness.

"I married into a Jewish family, so I am much aware of the hatred that goes on, discrimination is still here and we don't seem to be able to get rid of it.

"I think more people should come to see this exhibition and to learn from how the students' articulated it."

Adam Nickels, the head of outreach at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: "We love the fact that the holocaust survivor who inspired their candleholder, Frank Bright, used to visit the school and whom the pupils wished to commemorate for his contribution to their understanding of the holocaust.

"The carvings in the oak are beautifully created with messages of hope and commitment while commemorating Frank, his family and school friends."

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