Holocaust Remembrance Day – Gonzaga Campus Palermo: educating through memory to form responsible citizens

On 27 January, on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Gonzaga

Campus Palermo renews its educational commitment to preserving the memory of the Shoah and transforming it into active awareness, capable of guiding choices in the present and shaping the future.

Holocaust Remembrance Day at Gonzaga Campus Palermo is not experienced as a simple commemoration, but as a shared educational journey involving all Italian and international schools in activities designed for the age of the students appropriate activities united by a common thread: remembering so as not to repeat, understanding in order to act, educating towards fraternity.

A journey that begins with the youngest: educating to empathy, diversity and the value of “never again”

Scuola dell'Infanzia Gonzaga

The Early Years School has chosen to approach Holocaust Remembrance Day through language appropriate to young children, using the story “Pezzettino” as a symbolic tool to educate them in empathy and in the value of diversity.

After the reading, the children take part in a circle time, reflecting together on the importance of feeling part of a whole, welcoming differences and safeguarding the message of “never again” in a way suited to their age.The concluding activity is highly symbolic: each child receives a small piece of paper and, together, they create a large heart on the grass, a visible sign of a community formed by uniting differences.

Scuola Primaria: remembering means caring

1 and 2 Primaria – Memory as everyday kindness

In Primary 1 and 2, Holocaust Remembrance Day is introduced through the story “La portinaia Apollonia”. Starting from the narrative, teachers guide the children in a structured discussion on the meaning of not forgetting, understood as keeping people and important values in one’s heart.

Hands-on activities translate this message into concrete actions:

• writing kind words in Italian, English and Spanish;

• creating a large flower made up of petals coloured by the children;

• producing a “friendship graph” in mathematics, to understand how the union of differences generates a force capable of doing good;

• creating the “memory blanket”, assembled from pieces of fabric brought from home.

Each day, children also write down a good action they would like to carry out towards others, collecting these in a “box of good actions”, to remember that memory is lived out in everyday life.The project runs from January to February and is ideally linked to the International Day of Human Fraternity.

3, 4 and 5 Primaria – From memory to global responsibility

In Primary 3, 4 and 5, Holocaust Remembrance Day is linked to the International Day of Human Fraternity, highlighting that remembrance cannot remain confined to the past.

Students reflect on current global issues, such as ongoing conflicts around the world, understanding that memory must guide how we live in the present. Topics addressed include:

• the meaning of civil protest;

• the importance of standing up for a just cause in a responsible and non-violent way.

The pathway culminates in a symbolic march within the campus, accompanied by songs in Italian and English, opposing wars in places such as Palestine and Ukraine. Students take part carrying multilingual banners representing the cultures present in the school.The involvement of the International School is planned for this shared moment, so that everyone can sing and walk together as one community.

Italian Scuola Primaria: memory, peace and solidarity

First Classes of Primary – A first encounter with memory

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, first classes of Scuola Primaria took part in an educational programme designed to introduce young children to the significance of this important anniversary.

The activities allowed the children to understand, through language appropriate to their age, the value of historical memory and the importance of the principles of peace, solidarity and respect. During the meeting, a simple and careful explanation of the Shoah was offered, using communication methods respectful of the sensitivity of six-year-olds.

The programme continued with the screening of the video “Il bosco della memoria” (The Forest of Memory), a story that uses accessible metaphors and images to help young children understand the meaning of Remembrance Day.

The experience ended with a workshop activity, during which the pupils created a card dedicated to the fundamental values of brotherhood, peace, friendship and solidarity, encouraging personal reflection and collective sharing of these principles.

Third Classes of Primary– Memory through shared reading

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, in collaboration with librarian Milena Libutti, a reading programme was organised in the library for Third Classes of Primary, based on the book “Isaac's Cherry Tree”.After a brief introduction by the teachers on the historical period in which the Shoah took place, the librarian read the text aloud to an attentive and engaged audience. At the end of the reading, a guided discussion was held, allowing the children to express their emotions, thoughts and questions.

Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado: understanding, reflecting, giving shape to memory

Prima and Seconda Media – Introduction to the Shoah and historical memory

In Prima and Seconda Media, the Holocaust Remembrance Day programme begins with an introductory activity on the Shoah through a presentation and a guided brainstorming session, aimed at drawing out students’ prior knowledge, questions and reflections.

Class discussion allows for deeper exploration of fundamental themes such as human dignity, the value of life, and the role of historical memory as a tool for awareness. Particular emphasis is placed on the testimony of Liliana Segre, also presented through the viewing of a video, offering students direct contact with the voice of someone who experienced persecution first-hand.

The activity concludes with the creation of the Star of David, used as a symbol of reflection and remembrance – not merely as a historical sign, but as a call to individual and collective responsibility.

Prima Media – CLIL Integration in English

For Prima Media students, the programme was enriched through a CLIL activity in English, based on the reading of an extract from an autobiographical text by Liliana Segre. Students worked on text comprehension, developing their language skills while at the same time deepening their historical and emotional awareness.

This integration fostered meaningful learning by bringing together language, history and civic education into a single, coherent learning experience.

Class 3A – An interdisciplinary pathway between memory, history and citizenship

For Class 3A, an interdisciplinary pathway was designed, involving Italian, History and Civic Education.

The programme is structured in several phases:

Praelectio – Context

An initial moment of sharing students’ knowledge about Holocaust Remembrance Day, the meaning of remembering, and the worrying signs of intolerance in the contemporary world.

Lectio – Experience and deeper study

1. Indirect experience: revisiting the text The Train of Hope, read during the summer holidays, set in the context of the Second World War and intertwining stories of persecution, solidarity and humanity.

2. Historical study: analysis of Nazism, antisemitism, antisemitism in Italy during the Fascist regime, the Resistance in Europe, and the founding of the State of Israel.

3. Civic Education: analysis of the Fundamental Principles of the Italian Constitution as the foundation of a democratic state.

Guided reflection

A phase aimed at guiding students towards more conscious and responsible action.

Repetitio – Action

The class, divided into groups, works on a dramatisation of the text, creating a short script to be presented to families, thus transforming study into a shared and participatory experience.

Classes of Prima Media – Education through the language of cinema

With Prima Media classes, the pathway included the viewing of the animated film “Anne Frank and the Secret Diary”, which allowed students to approach the Shoah through the story of a girl their own age.

Reflection focused on the extraordinariness of a childhood lived under extreme conditions, fostering empathy, identification and awareness.

Class 1B – “So as not to forget”

In Class 1B, a three-hour workshop is planned, to be held during the week as part of cover lessons. Through this pathway, students learn about some of the most significant figures of the Second World War: silent heroes who distinguished themselves through courage, moral strength and a love of life.

The workshop is conducted in English and concludes with the creation of thematic posters, which will be displayed in the classroom as visible signs of remembrance and learning.

Licei: memory as philosophical and historical reflection

Licei – Philosophy and the Shoah

In the Upper Secondary School, work on Holocaust Remembrance Day developed

through the project “The Denied Subject: the Shoah between Descartes’ Cogito and Augustine’s Free Will”.

Students analysed how the system of the concentration camps attempted to annihilate the human being, reducing individuals to objects and depriving them of their dignity as thinking subjects. Starting from Descartes’ Cogito, the pathway highlighted the attempt to negate human identity, while St Augustine’s thought provided the framework to reflect on free will, individual responsibility and evil understood as the absence of good.

The project concluded with a structured debate, allowing students to apply these philosophical categories to the present day and to strengthen their civic awareness in opposition to all contemporary forms of indifference and dehumanisation.

Licei – History, testimony and contemporary relevance

With students of the Liceo Classico and Scientifico, the pathway took shape through historical debate and the analysis of several thematic strands, including:

• imperialism;

• women’s resistance;

• Jewish resistance;

• trauma;

• torture;

• testimony;

• deportation and forced migration.

The issues explored are constantly linked to contemporary contexts, encouraging students to view the past through the lens of present-day realities. To support the work, an essential bibliography was provided, with particular attention to testimonies, including interview-based books by Gitta Sereny. The pathway will conclude with the shared viewing of a selected film.

STEAM Pathway – Artificial Intelligence and Memory

STEAM students were invited to use an artificial intelligence-based programme to create an image that evokes the Holocaust and serves as a warning for the present and future generations.

The students participated in the activity with commitment and interest, creating their works and enriching them with a title, with the aim of reinforcing the message underlying the image and stimulating conscious reflection on the issues addressed.

International School: critical thinking, history and global citizenship

ISP Primary School – Beyond prejudice

During the school assembly on 23 January, students of the International School Primary reflected on the short film “Snack Attack”, which highlights how superficial interpretations can lead to unfair judgements.

The film served as a starting point for work on the IB Learner Profile attribute of Open-Mindedness, promoting values such as kindness, sharing and the ability to look beyond first impressions. These reflections were then further developed in class with teachers.

ISP Middle Years and Diploma Programme – Memory as analysis and action

M2 English

Students study the epistolary text “Address Unknown” by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, set in 1938. Through the exchange of letters between two German friends, the novel shows how the rise of Nazism and antisemitism can destroy deep human relationships.The analysis is accompanied by the study of the historical context, the history of antisemitism and the persecution suffered by minorities before and during the Second World War.

M5 Italian

Students create an interactive Padlet dedicated to the theme of genocide throughout history, with a particular focus on the Armenian genocide. Reading extracts from the novel The Lark Farm provides an opportunity to produce reflections, images, letters and songs dedicated to survivors.

D2 Italian

The reading and analysis of If This Is a Man by Primo Levi leads students to engage

with the poem “Shema”. Students choose between writing contemporary poetic texts or creating visual works that express the theme of dehumanisation.

M4 and M5 – Italian as an Additional Language

This pathway transforms Holocaust Remembrance Day into inspiration for action. Students design future initiatives to raise awareness among their peers, including an immersive experience structured around:

1. a sensory experience (a bunker-like room with sounds and images);

2. a space for encounter and testimony;

3. a photographic exhibition dedicated to past and present genocides.

   
   

Interdisciplinary approach

• Science (M3): photographic analysis of children from the Warsaw Ghetto to reflect on the concept of a “social ecosystem” and the consequences of its destruction.

• Individuals and Societies (M1–M2): a quiz on the Jewish presence in Palermo, followed by reflection on local history and its connection to the wider context of the Shoah.

  
  

Holocaust Remembrance Day – Gonzaga Campus Palermo: education that generates a future

Holocaust Remembrance Day at Gonzaga Campus Palermo thus becomes a shared educational journey, an opportunity to safeguard memory, in which the remembrance of the Shoah does not remain confined to the past but is transformed into responsibility, empathy and civic engagement.

Remembering means educating students to recognise injustice, to reject indifference and to build relationships founded on respect and the dignity of every person, so that the past may become a conscious guide for the future.Because remembering is not only a duty: it is an act of hope for the future