Editorial - Issue 1

What makes Barts and The London a special place to study? When asked that question, perhaps at an open day or when challenged on their obsession with identity, students often fall back on familiar themes; community, student activities, and of course, history.

They are familiar for a reason of course; for most of us studying here, they ring true. Part of the reason for starting this magazine was to strengthen these reasons, to bring together our community, to hear about what our students were doing, and to better understand our history. The history of Barts and The London is long and varied, but because of this, commonly simplified. Even those of whom are not historically driven will know of Rahere founding St Bartholomews in 1123, and of notable alumni who have buildings named after them, like Abernathy, Blizard or John Vane. Indeed it is also a history that is still being written; Sir Peter Ratcliffe winning this year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine is testament to this.

However, even with many of us who want to know more about our past, there are many chapters of this history that have slowly started to fall through the cracks; not due to malice or intention, but lack of attention. It is in this vein that we bring you ‘The Students of Belsen’, the first part of a regualr series of articles which look to retell stories that deserve to be remembered.

The ethos of Barts and The London is kept alive by the students and staff who know the weight of what those words mean. If we are to keep that Barts and The London way alive, we will have to do more to understand what that meant to the students who walked this path before.