Courage to Care comes to Echuca-Moama

Upstander programs transform bystander behaviour by demonstrating the core fact that a bystander is never neutral, and offering participants practical tools for standing up against racism, bullying and prejudice.

Participants are empowered to take positive action — in the schoolyard, workplaces and in our communities.

The program also presents the Upstander Award, and is inspired by those upstanders who risked themselves and their families by taking actions that assisted Jews to survive during the time of the Nazi regime in Europe.

In creating the award, the program seeks to honour Victorians who demonstrate upstander behaviour by showing some measure of moral courage by taking action on behalf of others or in defence of a cause.

An upstander “does not need to demonstrate physical bravery but does need to demonstrate action beyond altruism”.

The student selected from Echuca-Moama was Charlotte Atwell, a Year 7 student from River City Christian College.

In their nomination, the school said Charlotte was a wonderful young lady who held on to her beliefs and values no matter what, and that she was the student staff could depend on to look out for other students, as she noticed and befriended lonely students and was always compassionate and caring.

The first-person testimony was given to the students by Regina Lipshut, who was born in Paris in March, 1941.

Being born to Jewish parents in 1941, during the Nazi occupation of France, Regina’s life was turbulent and traumatic from the moment she was born.

In 1942, her father was taken to Auchwitz, and then in 1943, her mother was taken and put to death upon arrival.

Regina has little memory of her parents due to her young age, and does not possess any photos of them. The first time she saw their names in print was when looking for answers in the records found by historians.

Regina’s life was saved when she and her siblings were taken in by a farming family just outside Le Mans, France.

After the liberation, Australian Minister of Immigration Arthur Calwell arranged for visas for many orphaned children in Europe, including Regina and her siblings.

Regina has worked with Courage to Care for eight years, and has said how important it is to share stories from the Holocaust with the next generation.

“It’s a very worthwhile program that we’re doing, and I only want students to remember one word: whether it’s the word ‘Holocaust’, or the word ‘Hitler,’” Regina said.

“The students hear about the Second World War on and off, and funnily enough over the latter number of years the words of ‘Holocaust’ and ‘Hitler’ and ‘Nazis’ have become trivialised, and I find that offensive.

“Politicians and all sorts of people, who should know better, use those terms, and it’s wrong — those words are particularly unique to the Second World War and to be bandied around as a part of normal speech, I find that offensive.

“You hear six million Jews, and that everyone has a story, but when the kids hear one story, sometimes that one story brings it together for them.”

Regina hopes the program will encourage students to be more accepting within their own communities, and to stand up for people, as people stood up for her.

“Students should be more tolerant of differences, whether it’s religion or ability —everybody is different, they’re all different and have their own idiosyncrasies and likes and dislikes.

“Accept people for what they are — acceptance and tolerance, that’s what it’s all about.”