Pupils design candleholder for Holocaust survivor

Thirteen students wearing blue high school jumpers stand around a table. They are all looking directly at the camera. On the table is a wooden structure made of three layers with a candle on top.Image source, Jon Wright/BBC
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Students from Northgate High School designed the three-tiered candleholder to represent the past, present and future

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Students have designed a candleholder in memory of a Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to education.

Frank Bright, who was spared the gas chambers in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz as a teenager, worked regularly with Northgate High School in Ipswich until his death in 2023.

The candleholder will be part of a national exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of World War Two.

Macey, 14, who was one of the pupils involved in the project, said: "It just shows you how much history [Frank] held, even as a single individual person."

Frank Bright holds up his MBE medal. Mr Bright is wearing a blue shirt with a grey cardigan over the top. He has grey hair and is sitting in front of a red-brick wall. Image source, Kate Scotter/BBC
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Frank Bright was appointed MBE as part of Queen Elizabeth II's last New Year's Honours in 2022

Northgate High School is regular participant of the annual Dora Love Prize, external, a holocaust education programme.

As part of the programme students develop a creative project that links to what they have learnt about the holocaust, which they present at a showcase event in June.

The title for this year's prize was: "Time to stand up against a renewed wave of hate and exclusion."

Year 9 pupils from the school designed a candleholder that commemorated the story of Mr Bright and his classmates, which has been chosen by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust as part of its 80 Candles tour.

A close up of the side panel of the wooden candleholder, which includes an outline image of Frank Bright and quote which reads: "In memory of Frank Bright MBE. 'Well since I had the means and the energy to do, I felt I ought to bring them back into memory. Otherwise like all the rest they disappeared in oblivion.'"Image source, Jon Wright/BBC
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The side of the candleholder has quotes and an image of Frank Bright

Mr Bright used his 1942 class photo as a teaching tool, researching what happened to each of the children pictured alongside him.

In one of the many educational videos he participated in, Mr Bright explained his motivation to teach children about the holocaust.

"Well since I had the means and the energy to do, I felt I ought to bring them back into memory.

"Otherwise, like all the rest, they disappeared in oblivion," he said.

Carole Jones and Liz Harsant stand in front of the wooden candleholder. Jones is wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt with a red lanyard around her neck. Harsant is wearing a beige jumper underneath a black jacket. She is also wearing a red lanyard and gold medal around her neck. Image source, Jon Wright/BBC
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Councillors Carole Jones and Liz Harsant attend an event at Northgate to unveil the candleholder

Speaking at the event at Northgate High School to unveil the candleholder, Liz Harsant, the chair of Suffolk County Council, said: "I was born during the war and I remember very well Auschwitz and the horrible things that we had to witness.

"I married into a Jewish family, so I am much aware of the hatred that goes on, discrimination is still here and we don't seem to be able to get rid of it.

"I think more people should come to see this exhibition and to learn from how the students' articulated it."

Adam Nickels, the head of outreach at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: "We love the fact that the holocaust survivor who inspired their candleholder, Frank Bright, used to visit the school and whom the pupils wished to commemorate for his contribution to their understanding of the holocaust.

"The carvings in the oak are beautifully created with messages of hope and commitment while commemorating Frank, his family and school friends."

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Frank Bright retired with his English wife near Ipswich - he passed away in 2023

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