Spotlight On: Big Ideas

7 August 2018

This article first appeared in Queenwood News Weekly 27 July 2018.

Last night’s Balmoral Lecture was extraordinary. Ana Deleon grew up in the former Yugoslavia and was six years old when Hungarian and German armies occupied the area. They gradually tightened the screws on the local Jewish population, which she described through the eyes of a child: the rejection by her best friend who would not play with her any more, the exclusion from school, being forced to wear a yellow star, the sudden and inexplicable removal to the ghetto. By 1944 she was sent in rags with her family to a farm in Austria as forced labourers, and after some months was imprisoned in the notorious camp at Bergen-Belsen. In April 1944, 9 years old and weighing just 15 kilograms, she was loaded with 2500 Jewish prisoners into a cattle train which never reached its destination: the US Army caught up with it on the way and they were liberated. Somewhat miraculously, photos of this moment were rediscovered around 15 years ago.

The talk and the Q&A afterwards were wonderful and even, thanks to Ana, uplifting. I can’t do justice to the impact of her words in this newsletter, but we have recorded the lecture and we will put it up on our website shortly along with the podcasts of previous Balmoral Lectures. Click here to listen.

It was a pleasure to see how the girls clearly connected with Ana’s story, as evidenced by the quality of their questions and the discussion amongst those who attended the dinner with our guests afterwards.

One of the themes we discussed over dinner was victimhood. Notably absent from Ana’s account was self-pity or any sense of victimhood. She described the trauma and the atrocities with searing honesty, and also placed it in a context: that she was ‘one of the lucky ones’ who stayed with her parents throughout and made it out alive, that she went on to an impressive career as a chemical engineer, established a beautiful family and has lived a long, rich and rewarding life. She does not define herself in terms of the trauma she suffered. She is positive but not starry-eyed. When asked whether she would change her life history if she could, she was clear: ‘No-one could wish to go through that.’ But whilst she has committed to ensure that these events are not forgotten or denied, in her own life she has looked forward and not back. We were honoured by her presence.

I have been pondering one remark Ana made to me. She told me that some years ago a school had shown initial interest in having her visit their students, but had ultimately asked her not to talk about her experiences in the Holocaust because they were too depressing for the children. Choosing what ideas and themes we share with the girls is tricky. We want to protect the innocence of childhood, and as a society we are becoming more and more sensitive to giving offence. Emotional and psychological safety is important for all of us, especially children, but attempting to protect children from every confronting idea, bleak history or offensive use of language does them no good. Quite the contrary: it can encourage a brittleness or a sense of victimhood which ultimately only promotes conflict and prevents full human flourishing.

At Queenwood we are committed to tackling big ideas – even those we find deeply uncomfortable – and judging from the presence in the audience of so many young people, including those of primary age, our parents are too. We respect the capacity of the girls to engage with and learn from these occasions and we very much appreciate your support which, in an age of over-protection, is not to be taken for granted.

Ms Elizabeth Stone
Principal