On Saturday October 26th, we were pleased to welcome Dr Rey Conquer, Translator-in-Residence at the Holocaust Centre North, to host a workshop at the Storey in collaboration with Dr Nicola Thomas, School of Global Affairs, and Lancaster’s Transcultural Writing, Practice and Research Network. Dr Conquer, whose residency at Holocaust Centre North runs from May to November 2024, invited sixth form pupils and students to participate in a creative writing workshop inspired by the letters written by German-Jewish people interned on the Isle of Man during WW2.

These letters were written under many kinds of constraints: internees were permitted to write two letters per week, up to a maximum of 24 lines, sometimes in a second language, and in the knowledge that their words would be read by censors based in Liverpool. The war-time postal services suffered long delays, and correspondents were often addressing letters from friends and family written months ago, or simply writing in the hope that one day they might get a reply. However, letter-writers sought to communicate intense feelings – of boredom, isolation and loneliness, as well as the small pleasures of everyday life in the internment camps – despite these constraints.

Dr Conquer invited participants to write postcards with similar constraints in mind. Final-year student AJ Watt said, ‘It was a wonderful opportunity to gain an insight into the lived experiences of those interned on the Isle of Man during World War 2, and the struggles they encountered when having to communicate to their loved ones in English instead of their native language. Dr Conquer reminded us that translation is never just a mechanical process, but a creative one where we must consider emotion, motivation, circumstance, and many more factors in order to accurately and respectfully represent the words of the original author.’

The Holocaust Centre North exists to ‘tell a global history through local stories’, including those of survivors of the Holocaust and refugees who rebuilt their lives in the North of England. See: https://holocaustcentrenorth.org.uk/about/our-story/