Tomi Reichental is a man who unfortunately has been through a lot in his life. As a nine-year-old boy he was imprisoned in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. Tomi lost 35 members of his family during the Holocaust but never lost his ability to show empathy to others. Anne Frank was a fellow prisoner in Bergen Belsen but sadly she didn’t survive.
Inspiring You is a platform set up by a group of friends who work in education and media designed to encourage children to engage in more real-life activities and to use social media less.
“We worked with our media partners, KamilFilms, to produce a powerful child-friendly interview with Tomi explaining his views on bullying, racism and the Holocaust,” said a spokesperson.
Tomi was nine when he was imprisoned and lost his childhood. Nine-year old Seán met him and asked Tomi about his life, childhood and how people can work together to help prevent such evil acts happening again. The resulting interview is emotive and powerful.
Inspiring You has organised a nationwide #InspiringTomi competition for national school students which is proudly sponsored by Colm O’Brien Motivation supported by Claregalway Castle. The competition hopes to create a digital legacy promoting the work of Tomi, who has talked to over 100,000 students to date.
When Colm of Colm O’Brien Motivation, became aware of the #InspiringTomi concept he noted,”When I heard Tomi speak of the importance of people who are aware of something going on speaking out, becoming upstanders instead of bystanders, I was moved to get involved”.
Students are asked to be creative and reflective. They can write a story, poem, song or make a short video, take a photo or design a piece of art inspired by the themes discussed in the video or connected with Tomi’s story. His message of hope, empathy and love can be shared in your classroom, home and community through your creativity and actions.
Once students have created their #InspiringTomi work, their teachers are asked to upload an image of it to the schools website or related social media accounts using #InspiringTomi in the description. Links to the work will be emailed to the team at Inspiring You
Deadline for entries is 8pm on Friday April 10 with the winners being announced at 5pm on April 15 on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen Belsen
There are great prizes for students plus a luxurious night Airbnb for one lucky teacher in the luxurious and historic grounds of Claregalway Castle in Co. Galway.
For full competition details go to www.inspiringyou.ie or checkout @Inspiringyouirl on social media. Email: [email protected] for media enquiries
Anne Frank “What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.”
#InspiringTomi #IYIRL #AlmightyLove #CondemnedToRemember
