An educational program and exhibit at the Port Macquarie Glasshouse is asking students and adults alike to stand up against prejudice and discrimination.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Courage to Care exhibit tells the stories of those who stood up against injustices with Holocaust survivors speaking of their experiences at the accompanying workshops.
For the organisation's CEO Ed St John, it's important to educate the youth of today.
"What we're trying to do is to draw moral lessons from that period of history and say 'what can we all learn from this?' so that firstly we can ensure it doesn't happen again," he said.
"But secondly, just ensure that in our own lives we can try and be a bit better at standing up to these sorts of negative behaviours."
A new perspective
The workshop features other stories of discrimination and prejudice but Mr St John said that one of the most powerful aspects of the program is when participants meet a Holocaust survivor.
"What's really interesting is when you talk to the students after they've had that experience...it helps to put their own problems into perspective," he said
"It really helps them to sort of have some perspective on what other people might be going through in the world."
Mid-Coast Christian College students Baileigh Mclane and Amelia Richards who travelled with their class from Taree to attend the workshop, said it was an emotional experience.
"It's hard to describe it," said Miss Richards.
"It's hard to digest what those people had to go through."
The students were fortunate enough to listen to 97 year old Joseph 'Joe' Symon's story of survival.
After escaping a forced labor camp, Mr Symon became part of the underground resistance in Hungary and helped smuggle Jewish people out of ghettos.
His daughter Juliane Michaels gave a guided tour of the exhibit and the class were able to partake in a reflective workshop about what it means to be an 'upstander' instead of a bystander.
"One of the interesting things about our program is that we promote this idea of being an upstander," said Mr St John
"When you see someone being bullied or vilified or discriminated against...standing up to it or standing with the victim of that kind of behaviour takes a bit of courage and takes a bit of moral fibre.
What we're looking to do with our program is give people the tools and the confidence to be that person."
It's a message that has rung true to Miss Mclane and Miss Richards.
"Bystanders just watch and they don't help," said Miss Mclane.
"But upstanders stand up to the bully and help out."
Dangers of apathy
For Ernie Friedlander (OAM), apathy is the biggest obstacle.
"A lot of people think 'it doesn't concern me, what can I do about it, let somebody else handle it,' he said.
"We need to...stop, think and consider other people and have compassion for other people."
Mr Friedlander is not only a founding member of the Courage to Care program but has his own unique experience to share as a Holocaust survivor.
Mr Friedlander was only 9 years old when the German guard transporting him and his mother to a concentration camp chose to look away and allow them both the escape.
They were the only people in their family to survive.
Mr Friedlander later emigrated to Australia in 1950
Mr Friedlander wanted to forget his past but it was his wife Lea that encouraged him to share his story to his children.
"It was very emotional for me but I realised the wisdom of it," he said.
"I thought... maybe my story can be a deterrent that people shouldn't discriminate, not to stereotype, not to generalise but to look at the individual."
Mr Friedlander has continued to share his story in numerous Courage to Care workshops with often emotional results.
"There's a trauma in healing and it's very important that we don't forget it," he said.
"We all need to try to help and make a difference and that's what Courage to Care is very much involved in and promotes."
The Courage to Care exhibit will be on display at the Glasshouse until Sunday 28 August.
Workshops are available for schools, community groups and workplaces to take part in.