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During the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Chantal witnessed the worst of human nature as people turned against each other. She also saw the best of humanity in the neighbours who hid her and helped her survive, despite the risk to themselves and their families.

Waldemar Nods was a black grandson of a slave from Suriname, who moved to the Netherlands in 1927, aged 19. He had a son – Waldy – with his Dutch wife – Rika – and together they hid Jews from the Nazis during the German occupation. They were caught and deported to concentration camps in Germany.

Simone was born in 1930. She lived with her parents near Mulhouse in Alsace. Alsace has an interesting history. It has been both German and French. When Simone was born, Alsace was in France but many people living there remembered its time as a German region. In June 1940, with France occupied by Nazi Germany, Alsace became German again. It was a very confusing time.

The following testimony was written by Jean Baptiste Kayigamba, a survivor of the Genocide in Rwanda. Please note that the views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of HMDT.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Beacon Schools programme, the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education asked the schools for their ten ‘top tips’ to help schools to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2022.