ABSTRACT
A great deal has been written, over the years, about the impact of language and/or culture on identity. The school had a small percentage of bilingual pupils, as the children were mainly white and English speaking. The children performing alienation and Turkishness were skilled actors and it is very possible that all young children are in situations that demand this. Most important is how closely language is associated with identity, self-esteem and a sense of dignity. A German Jewish philosopher, Klemperer labelled the camp language as the Lingua Tertii Imperii - the language of the Third Reich. In stark contrast the prisoners, deprived of their liberty, families, hair, names and language descended into an impossible invisibility and anonymity. In The Truce Levi, looking at what happened when the camps were liberated, described the tragic story of a 3-year-old child, Hurbinek, who 'was nobody, a child of death, a child of Auschwitz'.
