THE HOLOCAUST LISTENING PROJECT
ABOUT
The Listening Project at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum is a community-led project which aims to explore lesser-known or hidden stories relating to the Second World War and Holocaust with diverse communities which have had little or no contact with our museum. Through The Listening Project, we intend to share, in different formats, the testimonies of survivors, whose stories are at the heart of all our work and to explore innovative ways of responding to these stories through critically reflecting on these critical questions
On this website, you will find creative responses to the stories of our survivors, Ruth Schwiening and Simon Winston. We hope to grow this website as we continue to work creatively with our survivors and communities.
We will be looking for more creative responses in the future, so please do get involved and look at our website and programme of events. Alternatively, contact the centre to arrange a session with one of our educators.
This project formed part of our Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme with Imperial War Museums (SWWHPP).
Debbie Moss, Educator, The Listening Project. Email: education@holocaust.org.uk
How are we connected to the stories we hear?
What do we do/should we do when we’ve listened to these stories?
What happens when people aren’t here to tell their stories? How will we listen and to whom?
Whose stories are we listening to when we listen to Holocaust survivors?
Why do we hear them here in this place?
Whose stories remain unheard even when they speak to us?
RUTH SCHWIENING
THE HEAVENS WEEP
Ruth arrived in England on the Kindertransport at the age of three. There wasn’t room for her two siblings. Despite her father being imprisoned in Dachau, the family eventually reunited. Ruth has turned to art and poetry to share her story and deliver countless talks over the decades. More recently, she has published My Story as part of a volunteer-led testimony project from The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR). Her testimony provides hope to today’s survivors of genocide, conflict and war.
‘I denied my Jewishness when I was growing up because I wanted to be the same as everybody else….now I feel my Jewishness very much, and that is because of my parents…I have a menorah. For a long time, I didn’t even know what it was, now it is an important part of the Jewishness that I feel.’
Ruth Schwiening
Commissioned artist:
James Walker and Nottingham Trent University (NTU)
James is a creative producer and writer who specialises in digital storytelling projects. In 2015 he won the Teaching Excellence Award at The Guardian for his innovative use of digital storytelling in the literary graphic novel series Dawn of the Unread. This was co-created with hundreds of students.
Collaboration and community-building are integral to his working ethos and so we invited James and students on his Creative Writing modules at NTU to create a diverse range of digital responses to Ruth’s artwork The Heavens Wept. These include an Instagram story, a song, a YouTube video and a visual essay.
Visit James’s website HERE
STORY 1:
James Walker
STORY 2:
Elle Jacobson
STORY 3:
Kai Northcott
STORY 4:
John Lewell
Simon Winston is one of our survivors who speaks regularly at the centre. He has a memorial in the gardens sculptured by his friend Stanley Bullard. Simon’s testimony tells of his family’s escape from the ghetto in a small town in Poland. The memorial is called ‘Hidden Childhood.’ It shows Simon in hiding with his elder brother’s arms around him. Of particular importance to Simon is a rose in the garden dedicated to his parents who ‘saved his life a thousand times’.
‘I didn't tell my story for 50 years. Nobody was interested. It was only after the genocide in Cambodia - and later in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur - and more recently in Myanmar, China, and Isis still - that we realize that we still haven't learnt lessons. That genocide is a precursor to war. That genocide starts with unjustified prejudice which can lead to discrimination. That discrimination leads to abuse and violence - and that kind of violence can lead to genocide and war. My story is indeed a warning from history. By telling it, I hope to prevent genocide- and I hope to prevent WW3’.
Simon Winston
SIMON
WINSTON
WHITE ROSES
Simon Winston is one of our survivors who speaks regularly at the centre. He has a memorial in the gardens sculptured by his friend Stanley Bullard. Simon’s testimony tells of his family’s escape from the ghetto in a small town in Poland. The memorial is called ‘Hidden Childhood.’ It shows Simon in hiding with his elder brother’s arms around him. Of particular importance to Simon is a rose in the garden dedicated to his parents who ‘saved his life a thousand times’.
‘I didn't tell my story for 50 years. Nobody was interested. It was only after the genocide in Cambodia - and later in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur - and more recently in Myanmar, China, and Isis still - that we realize that we still haven't learnt lessons. That genocide is a precursor to war. That genocide starts with unjustified prejudice which can lead to discrimination. That discrimination leads to abuse and violence - and that kind of violence can lead to genocide and war. My story is indeed a warning from history. By telling it, I hope to prevent genocide- and I hope to prevent WW3’.
Simon Winston
Commissioned artist:
Amina Atiq
Amina is a Yemeni poet, performance artist, creative practitioner and award-winning community activist. She was BBC Words First Finalist in 2019 and Young Associate & Anti-racism group member for Curious Minds. Her recent residencies include A Lovely Word Poetry Festival and Social Fellow of Humboldt Foundation. Her upcoming projects include librettist in collaboration with composer Alya Al-Sultani for Opera of Two Sisters.
Visit Amina’s website HERE
Amina was commissioned by Imperial War Museum as part of the SWWHPP to write a story for the NHCM as part of ‘One Story Many Voices.’ This work resulted in a digital installation showcasing eight stories to represent the eight cultural organisations around the UK which collaborated on the SWWHPP.
The eight stories can be heard at One Story, Many Voices
You can read Amina’s poem, watch an animation created by our digital intern, read poems from her workshops, or create your own responses using Amina’s workshop ideas.
Amina Atiq by Robin Celewy
WATCH HERE
This animation of Amina’s poem was created by William Seaborne, digital intern at the NHCM, recruited as part of the SWWHPP.
The biographical details are read by Simon Winston.
READ OR
LISTEN
Reflection on Simon Winston’s story & Hidden Childhood Sculpture.
Created by Stanley Bullard
See Amina and members of World Jam at the Imperial War Museum in London listening to and responding to her poem.
Password: Simon
