Lessons from Auschwitz..

At the beginning of February, four Year 12 students went on a daytrip to Poland in order to visit Auschwitz. This trip is run as part of Lessons From Auschwitz – a programme run by the Holocaust Educational Trust that encourages students to learn about the Holocaust and consider its contemporary relevance in modern society.

Upon our arrival in Auschwitz, we were soon met by Rabbi Shaw, who introduced us to the Book of Names. This consisted of the names of every Jew who was murdered during the Holocaust. However, there are 1.8 million names that are unaccounted for, because they had no surviving loved ones to put their name in the book. In order to promote the individualisation of the victims, we were encouraged to look through the book and find a name to remember and continue their legacy.

Although we saw much of the camp, the rooms that consisted of the victims’ belongings are the ones that stand out most to me, particularly the room with the shoes. We were also incredibly fortunate that we were allowed to walk through the one surviving gas chamber at Auschwitz.

After, we visited Birkenau. It was a different experience from Auschwitz, as it had just been preserved rather than converted into a museum, and I believe that made it a more emotional experience as you can truly feel as though you are walking through history.

One of the things we saw were the living conditions for the prisoners. These were so confined and clearly fed into the Nazi idea of dehumanisation. Within the buildings, it was so cold, despite the fact that we were wearing several layers, which makes it difficult to imagine how frozen the prisoners would have been in the nights of Russian-style winters.

It is impossible to articulate the sheer enormity of Birkenau. When looking at the infamous entrance, the barbed wire stretched for as long as the eye could see. We managed to walk to the other end of the camp, but it would have been impossible to have seen everything.

To end the day, we met Rabbi Shaw again, who told us some stories of victims of the Holocaust, but also explored the contemporary relevance with antisemitism still prevalent in modern society. He then led a memorial service in which we lit candles in order to spread and share light.

Overall, the trip, although being an emotional day, was an educational experience that we all learnt a lot from. It also showed us the consequences that come as a result of hatred and prejudice and how we must strive to stop this happening again.