Holocaust Educational Trust Ambassador Harley Riley blogs about why she is attending Ambassador Conference 2014
When I first applied to be a Regional Ambassador at the beginning of 2013, I realised just how long it had been since I had taken part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project – 3 years! In that time I’d done my A Levels, started university and while the basics of my Holocaust knowledge still remained, I was no expert.
It’s kind of scary, being an Ambassador, and even more so a Regional Ambassador. You’ve taken part on an amazing Project and know there’s so much you can do in your role to share what you learnt but how do you do it justice. I want to do justice to the survivor I heard at my own orientation seminar, and those survivors I’ve heard and met since – I want to be able to share their story with others, but also be able to tell others what the Holocaust was and why it’s still relevant today. It’s complex and by no means an easy task. But the more knowledge I’ve gained working with the Holocaust Educational Trust, the easier it’s become and the more confident I’ve become in doing it.
If we, young people around the UK, continue learning about the Holocaust together and ensuring its memory remains for generations to come as a community, it doesn’t seem quite as daunting. Together we have the chance to make a difference and to spread a clear and simple message: the Holocaust should never be forgotten.
We are fast approaching the Trust’s annual Ambassador Conference, an event uniting the hundreds of Ambassadors across the country, and hundreds of A-Level History students. It’ll be a day where we can build upon our historical knowledge of the Holocaust, think about its contemporary relevance together and importantly build up our confidence to tell others about this dark period in our shared history, which should never be forgotten.
There will be a great line up of speakers at the Conference and workshops which you can chose depending on your areas of interest. I’ll definitely be there, I hope you will too!
When Holocaust survivor Kitty Hart-Moxon signed my copy of her book at my LFA Orientation seminar all those years ago, she told me she was proud to be amongst so many young people who want to share her story, as well as remembering the stories of all those who are no longer with us to share them. We have a responsibility to ensure that those stories aren’t forgotten and the more we learn and share as a community of like minded young people, the more of a difference we can make!