Poetry on the Holocaust

The Holocaust is colourless, dull and miserable


No colour to it.

If the Holocaust had a feel to it,

It would be numb,

No feeling to it.

If the Holocaust had a sound to it,

It would be a sickening silence,

No sound to it.

If the Holocaust had a vision to it,

It would be blank,

Nothing to be seen


Poem by a prisoner at HMP/YOI New Hall

Oakhill Secure Training Centre hosts the Anne Frank Exhibition.

Young people at Oakhill Secure Training Centre, taking their peers and Staff around the Anne Frank Exhibition.

Rachael Wood & Nick Daines (Oakhill PVE Team) coordinated the event at Oakhill STC. The aim of this project was to encourage the young people to turn their backs on prejudice and hatred and embrace positive attitude and diversity within society.

Guests invited to experience the event included, members from the community and local partnerships, including the local school. On the last day the establishment was also honored to have Iain Stewart MP (Milton Keynes) experience the closing ceremony for the event, to which he commented: “Thank you for showing me this important lesson from history so well, we must never forget what happened”.

Rachael Wood commented, “This exhibition will be remembered and spoken about with fondness at Oakhill for many years to come, may we never forget how this historic event has and will continue to shape our future”!

Young people had the opportunity to; work towards an OCN accredited course in Diversity, experience creative writing workshops with spoken word poet Leah Thorn, and were guided through the life and time of Anne Frank by their own peers. Below is one of the poems from a young trainee who attended Leah Thorn’s workshop:

My life is hard,

I’m in Secure,
I know there’s hope
because I’ve been before
How many months? Maybe nine.
That’s too long till I see the sun shine.
I can’t wait until I see my family,
I wait and I wait,
I think they’re not coming,
I’m not thinking straight.

You think my life is easy. It’s not.
You don’t have to trust me
but just believe me.
See, I’m only fourteen,
what happens when I’m eighteen?
Will I be in YOI?
I don’t know…..

Poem written by Reece (Oakhill STC)

 

One Off

Art work by Noel Parker HMP Maghaberry, courtesy of the Koestler Trust. The piece received a G4S Highly Commended Award.

' Hold On'

'Hold On' is one of an Anthology of poems produced at HMP Gartree, led by Leah Thorn, at the Anne Frank Trust Creative Writing Workshop. The event in July was a great success. We are extremely grateful to Mrs Eva Clarke ( Holocaust Survivor) for being our Guest Speaker during this event. Eva's talk was much appreciated by both prisoners and Staff. Special thanks to the team at HMP Gartree for their unstinting support.

► Hold On



 Hold on to your love
 Even if you’re on your own

Hold on to your dreams
Even if your afraid to sleep

 Hold on to your youth
 Even if you’re getting old

Hold on to what is real
Even if at times you have to pretend

Hold on to your tongue
If you’ve got nothing good to say

Hold on to hope
And draw it close

Let it warm your bosom
Don’t get morose

Hold on to the fact that
I will be here for you

Hold on to the thought that you’re my soul mate
And one day we will walk this earth!!

Hold on to your memories
They can’t be taken away from you

Hold on to your sanity
Even if its by a thread

Embrace this message
These are wise words that we’ve said!



► Group Work( Lloydy AJ, Malc,, John, Steve, TY) HMP Gartree, July 2010

Annexe In The City

In this picture, from left to right: Kacey (Exhibitions Manager), Maureen McNeil (Director of Education), Alan ( Accountant), Hilary ( Programmes Manager) and Yvonne Simons ( Executive Director).

We are extremely proud to announce that the Anne Frank Model House produced by Prisoners at HMP Wakefield, especially for the Anne Frank Centre USA, has arrived with no damages incurred from this momentous journey. The Staff at the USA Centre are thrilled to have received this tremendous gift, and will be showcasing the model in the  next couple of months when they move the Centre to new premises in New York City. Maureen McNeil, the Director of Education, said:
" We would like to express our deepest gratitude to those who worked on the house. Their artistry and care are evident, and the symbolic gesture speaks volumes."

London Eye Crying

Art work by Paul O'Halloran HMP Wandsworth, courtesy of the Koestler Trust. The piece was Kalyx commended.

HMP Wakefield wins Award

Congratulations to the team from HMP Wakefield who recently won a Prison service Award for ‘Decency and Diversity’. They were chosen for the outstanding work that they do with prisoners at HMP Wakefield, and for the work that the Charity workshop does for the community. The Anne Frank Trust was presented with scaled models of the Anne Frank House and donations boxes; one of the models was proudly presented to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in 2009, to commemorate what would have been Anne frank’s 80th birthday


The Prison service Award was presented by Mr Danny McAllister the Director of High Security Prisons in the UK. The ceremony was held at the Walton Hall in Warwickshire.

My Darkest Hours

Art work by Patrick John Craggs, HMP Ashwell, Courtesy of the Koestler Trust. The piece was awarded  a Bronze Award.

HMP Swaleside and HMP Standford Hill Jointly host the Anne Frank Exhibition

In May 2010 HMP Swaleside and HMP Standford Hill combined to host the Anne Frank exhibition. The Guest speaker at both establishments was Dr Eva Schloss, who was extremely well received by her audience. Eva’s talk at HMP Swaleside was held in the chapel, in front of 120 prisoners and staff. In HMP Standford Hill there was a more relaxed and slightly impromptu talk with a group of prisoners and staff in the visitors centre. Both audiences listened intently to Eva talk of her experiences, and asked very interesting questions which Eva enjoyed answering. It was extremely memorable and we are extremely grateful to Eva for giving of her time to do this for the Trust.

HMP Standford Hill Cat D (open prison) sited the exhibition in the visitors centre, and Senior Officer Amanda Syddell organised visits from Eastchurch Primary School to see the exhibition. Especially interesting as the prisoners of Standford Hill were the exhibition guides. They were so professional that many did not realise they were prisoners and not guides from the Trust! This was a wonderful experience for the children, and did much to break down barriers, and stereotypes about prisons/prisoners. Both prisoners and schoolchildren got a great deal out of this experience, and even greater community involvement would have ensued had there been the time!

We plan to use the Standford Hill model to further strengthen ties with the community in regions where there are similar establishments – as it demonstrated how important these links can be, and how rewarding the benefits are of this shared experience. It also showed some of the good things that go on in prisons, rarely seen by the general public, and rarely reported in the national press.

HMP Foston Hall builds a Memorial Garden in remembrance of the Holocaust Victims.

HMP Foston Hall is a closed female establishment, which holds up to 283 prisoners, located near Derby.

The Prison hosted the Anne Frank exhibition on the 10th to the 12th of February 2010. The event was attended by almost all prisoners as well as members of Staff.

At the closing event, a Holocaust Memorial Garden was officially opened. The women in the prison put a huge amount of effort and work into the project.They had cleared the ground, laid the flower beds, as well as constructing the memorial in the centre of the garden which they named the garden of ‘Remembrance and Reconciliation’. At the centre of the memorial, there is a candle section which is surrounded by barbed wire. The women even took the trouble to make the barbed wire look rusty and old, the women prisoners were so proud of what they had done!

Rabbi Perez said an opening prayer and he blessed the garden. Simon Winston (Holocaust survivor) gave a series of talks about his experiences. Also at the event, were two musicians who played beautiful Klezmar music, (music which was banned by the Nazi regime) during the candle lighting. Also attending, was Nigel Groom, a Representative of GRT ( Gypsy Roman Traveller Community) who gave a talk about the Travellers persecution throughout history.

The event was well organised and very moving, it was such a success!