On the 12th of March, Year 10 History students travelled to Horsham's Capitol Theatre to see 'Hitler on Trial'.
Once there we were greeted by Josh Brooman, the author of our history textbook 'Germany 1918-45'. This was exciting as he had also written the play we were about to watch. We found our seats and the theatre quickly filled with students from other schools.
To start the afternoon we had a fifty minute exam busting workshop, for which we were given a booklet which contained several GCSE questions and choice of two answers for each. The answers were read out by actors whilst we had to grade them ourselves using the mark scheme as our guide. Mr Brooman proceeded to analyse each response and explained in detail the way the questions were marked by the examiners. He also gave us several useful tips to help us when we take our exams this summer.
After a short break the actors entered the stage and acted out the Trial of Adolf Hitler. We were asked to assume the role of the Jury and imagine that Hitler had not died and that he was on trial for war crimes, in this case causing the Second World War. Crimes against humanity would be heard in another case so we were asked not to take that into consideration as Jury members.
Many witnesses came into the court room and gave their accounts of the situation. They were questioned by the prosecution and defence and had some very compelling evidence for both sides. Some of the individuals brought to the stand included Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist dictator, and Joseph Stalin, Russian dictator. At the end of the court scene the judge, Mr Brooman, asked us, the Jury, to decide on a verdict. We all handed in our slips, guilty or not guilty, for Miss Austin our History teacher, to count.
Once the whole theatre's votes had been collated the verdict was announced as guilty for causing the Second World War. Promptly after this an enraged jury member shot Hitler dead on stage. This was a 'thrilling' end to the play and our trip.
We would like to thank Miss Austin and Mr Clarke for taking us on this trip; we all enjoyed it and are certain that it will help us with our exams. Thank you!
Written by Eleanor Prail, Year 10
