These words, written by Anne Frank during the Second World War, are being used to encourage today’s young people to fight prejudice and reduce hatred in the region. Catherine Priestley reports.

THE story of the young Jewish schoolgirl, Anne Frank, and of other groups targeted by the Nazi regime are at the heart of an education programme which was launched yesterday – on Holocaust Memorial Day.

The three-year Anne Frank: Dialogue for Cohesion programme will start in County Durham before being extended across the North- East.

It features a touring exhibition and workshops to engage young people in issues such as hate crime, democracy, human rights, personal responsibility and citizenship.

The Anne Frank Trust UK is running the scheme with County Durham Ethnic Minority and Travellers’ Advisory Service and other supporters, said the lessons of yesteryear were still being learnt today.

Jamie Arden, from the trust, said: “We have to challenge hatred and reduce prejudices by promoting a positive voice.

“We want young people to be that voice in our communities.

“This exhibition can provide a platform to provoke thought and challenge prejudices and hatred so it evaporates.”

He said the optimistic outlook of a young girl surrounded by the horrors of Nazi persecution, as her Jewish family attempted to hide in a secret flat in Amsterdam, could inspire today’s young people to challenge inequalities in society.

Lynne Gregory, head of Durham County Council’s learning support service, said: “I believe this project will make our young people more human, not simply well educated.”

The programme’s launch at Spennymoor Town Hall, which included a play by Jack Drum Arts, was one of a series of events held to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

About 150 people attended a ceremony in Darlington Arts Centre, where students from the town’s Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College talked about their trip to the former concentration camps in Auschwitz, Poland.

Councillor Ian Haszeldine, Mayor of Darlington, said: “The Holocaust Memorial Day Service certainly focused the mind on the suffering of people throughout the world, both in the past and today.

“I found the ceremony moving and informative and the performances and artwork produced by the young people were exceptional.”