Participant of Holocaust study tour reports on history of genocide
Jun. 1, 2015
by Yuji Yamamoto, Staff Writer
Fumiko Tokimori, 19, a sophomore at Prefectural University of Hiroshima, has made a presentation on the Holocaust study tour she recently took part in.
During her presentation, held at her university in Minami Ward on May 21, she showed photos and explained what she learned during her visit to the site of the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The “silent witnesses” of the Holocaust include the railway tracks over which Jewish people from across Europe were carried in cattle cars, the gas chamber where she felt a chill, and a vast number of shoes once worn by prisoners.
Ms. Tokimori said she felt as if she were unable to breathe when visiting the Anne Frank House, which is located in the Netherlands. She expressed her sympathy for Anne and imagined how the adolescent girl felt impelled to express her feelings by writing in a diary.
The participants of the study tour learned about the history of the Holocaust, and met with local high school students and exchanged views. They also interviewed the mayor of Oswiecim, Poland, where the former Auschwitz concentration camp is located. Through this interview, they considered what roles young people can play. Ms. Tokimori said, “There were things that I could really only feel when I actually visited those places. What if war should break out now? We can prevent war by exercising our imagination.”
The audience numbered about 50 students and the president of the university, Kenichi Nakamura. Fumika Yoshikiyo, 20, a junior at the university, said, “Her report conveyed the reality of that tragic event and helped me understand the misery. I also want to learn about the suffering Japan inflicted on other countries during the war.”
(Originally published on May 25, 2015)
Fumiko Tokimori, 19, a sophomore at Prefectural University of Hiroshima, has made a presentation on the Holocaust study tour she recently took part in.
During her presentation, held at her university in Minami Ward on May 21, she showed photos and explained what she learned during her visit to the site of the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The “silent witnesses” of the Holocaust include the railway tracks over which Jewish people from across Europe were carried in cattle cars, the gas chamber where she felt a chill, and a vast number of shoes once worn by prisoners.
Ms. Tokimori said she felt as if she were unable to breathe when visiting the Anne Frank House, which is located in the Netherlands. She expressed her sympathy for Anne and imagined how the adolescent girl felt impelled to express her feelings by writing in a diary.
The participants of the study tour learned about the history of the Holocaust, and met with local high school students and exchanged views. They also interviewed the mayor of Oswiecim, Poland, where the former Auschwitz concentration camp is located. Through this interview, they considered what roles young people can play. Ms. Tokimori said, “There were things that I could really only feel when I actually visited those places. What if war should break out now? We can prevent war by exercising our imagination.”
The audience numbered about 50 students and the president of the university, Kenichi Nakamura. Fumika Yoshikiyo, 20, a junior at the university, said, “Her report conveyed the reality of that tragic event and helped me understand the misery. I also want to learn about the suffering Japan inflicted on other countries during the war.”
(Originally published on May 25, 2015)
