There are people in our lives that are chosen to bring to the world the voices of the unspoken, the forgotten and the outcasts. For this week’s Celebrity we decided to speak with someone that went back in time to help young generations understand the importance of our history.
Valentine Maury, second-year Journalism and Sociology student at City, had the opportunity to take part into a media project organised by the Maximilian Kolbe Werk, a German association for concentration camps survivors.
The aim of the initiative was to produce some journalistic material after interviewing camps survivors and visiting the places of the Holocaust. Valentine and other 20 young European journalists went one week in Oswieçim, Poland, and to Orianenburg, Germany. In this interview Valentine shared with us some thoughts and memories of this life-changing experience.
So Val, tell us everything about this project. How did you get involved? I first received an email from prof Suzanne Franks, which was sent to all BA Journalism students, suggesting that we should take part in this project. It required to speak a bit of German, which made me hesitate at the beginning. However, after second thought I applied, as I have always been very interested in history and I wanted to know more about this notorious, dreadful part of our past. To meet with the survivors was essential to get a better understanding of how it all happened with first hand accounts and to get their messages of hope and peace spread to a wide audience.
How did you find the experience? Did it change you? It was very emotional, and I found it very hard to write articles about it. There were no words available to phrase what I felt about the camps. I spent nights awake wondering how all of it was possible and picturing what it was like. The visit of Auschwitz-Birkenau was also a big shock. I knew what to expect, but to see it in real had an incredible impact. One of the rooms was full of children’s shoes, I cannot forget it. I think the whole experience changed me in some ways. One of the survivors, Mr Jacek Zielieniewicz, told us “I have no hatred and this is my victory”. This made me wonder: why would I feel some towards people who did nothing to me, compared to what Mr Zielienniewicz has lived?
Have you learnt something in particular? I have learned that laughter and sadness are very close to each other, and that sometimes there are things you will never understand. Yu just have to accept them the way they are, and to do your best so that they won’t happen again. On a journalistic level, I have also learned a lot. I was one of the youngest and probably leass experienced there, and I took this occasion to ask to the other professionals questions and advice for my career. I did feel stupid sometimes, making mistakes that they hardly do (like forgetting to turn on my recorder or not daring to ask questions), but it was a good occasion to observe them working.
Tell us 3 things you loved about Poland and 3 things you hate about London. Of Poland I love the beer, my Polish friends and Krakow. Of London I hate the prices, The tube – being stuck underground in moody tubes that take forever to ride really panics me – and the lack of sun.
Photo credit: © Marcin Lachowicz / Very Much Media
I also know that you are passionate about volunteering and Palestine. Why do you think it’s important to help others, even if they are fighting for a battle that “is not yours”? Because there are things that happen in the world that should not be left behind and ignored. I have good friends in Palestine, students like us, who aspire to go to university, to travel abroad, to live normal lives. Yet they cannot, and there is a very strong sense of injustice in this. It is our battle to ensure that we all have equal access to education, traveling and that we can grow up in safety and not under a military occupation. I think it is important to help where you can, and when it does not create more problems.
We also know that you were one of the main contributors for St John Street, a hyperlocal website that covers the areas of Islington and Shoreditch. Was it hard to leave uni in the middle of the term? I must admit it was bit tough, especially during the second part of the project in March. I had an article due for St John Street, the wi-fi in Orianenburg was dreadful and the project was very intense, with visits and interviews all the time. But other than these practical difficulties, it was harder on an emotional level. It kind of screwed me up at some points, to be honest. After the project, it took me about two weeks to be able to write about it and to fully go back into the studying and journalistic mode.
How do you see yourself in the future? How I dream it – War reporter able to save lives, traveling from one country to the other, having an affair in every single country I travel to and coming back home from time to time to enjoy amazing food cooked by my sister. Of course, I will not have any money problems. How I think it will be – Freelance, probably based in London or Paris, working days and nights to sell articles and make a little bit of money, too keen on wine and cigarettes.
You can find out more about the project, see some of the pictures and read Val’s articles at the Maximilian Kolbe Werk Blogspot, the Holocaust Day Trust and on her personal blog.