Daisy Salt and George Barrett have now been privileged to take part in a noe day visit to Auschwitz. They have recorded a little of their experiences as they begin to plan their own project to share some of the lessons they have learnt.
Daisy reflects. "Standing in the guard tower of Auschwitz Birkenau is, I think, when I realised what an amazing- if slightly strange- experience this project was. In the snow it was freezing cold, and all you could see from this high tower was the barren and harshly regimented landscape of Auschwitz Birkenau. Without actually visiting Auschwitz, I don’t think I could ever have understood just how huge the camp is. It showed me how vast an operation the Nazi’s had created, and this shocked me. Of course I had heard the statistics and seen pictures prior to the visit, but never before had it properly sunk in how many people the Nazis had wiped out.
The thing which I found hardest about the trip was seeing the huge stacks of human hair, shoes, cooking pots, children’s toys and prayer shawls of those who were admitted to the Auschwitz camps. Whole rooms filled with things that once belonged to living human beings, just like me. I can’t imagine having my hair shaved off, for me my hair is one of the most important things that makes me, me when I look in the mirror. I can’t imagine how dehumanising it would be to have it brutally and cruelly forced from me. Looking at the room full of hair which had been taken from people in just this way, I couldn’t comprehend how the people, who had committed this series of heinous crimes, could ever have thought that what they were doing was right.
I’m now thoroughly looking forward to taking back the lessons I have learned to the rest of the school. Auschwitz and the crimes committed across all of the Nazi empire anger and sadden me deeply, and the fact that people are still denying or justifying the holocaust today terrifies and shocks me. I want to ensure that I do my part in educating others in tolerance, and stamping out anti-Semitism, racism and bullying".
George reflects. "Our trip to Auschwitz was a thought provoking and interesting experience, and one I will never forget. We began by seeing an old Polish town and visiting the local cemetery. The talk we were given gave us an idea of what pre-war Jewish life was like. We were then taken around Auschwitz I, the smaller of the two main camps. Here we saw the Auschwitz museum and the infamous display containing shoes taken from the prisoners. This was also the location of the only remaining gas chamber from either of the two camps. Finally we saw the second camp, Birkenau and I was especially struck by its sheer size. The camp was surrounded by a high fence and contained row upon row of barracks, where hundreds of thousands of prisoners were forced to live in the most appalling conditions. To see this raised many questions in my mind about those who commit atrocities and how this was possibly allowed to take place. The bitter cold and driving snow made it impossible to believe that people lived and worked in Auschwitz, equipped with only the feeblest of clothes and their will to survive. The day was appropriately concluded with a period of reflection whilst walking along the railway line which runs through the camp. It was chilling to think about all those who had taken that path before us, and harrowing to think that for many it was a walk to their death.
Although many are aware of the events of the Holocaust and many are shocked by the horrifying figures connected with this place, I can genuinely say that hearing is not like seeing and that a trip to Auschwitz is thoroughly worthwhile.
We will soon be undertaking the final part of the Lessons from Auschwitz project, which involves designing a next steps project. This will help to spread some of the lessons that can be learned from Auschwitz throughout the school. We intend to carry these lessons forward either through an assembly or school PSE lessons. We intend to focus our next steps project on challenging modern day prejudices, as we feel this is an extremely important contemporary lesson to be learnt from events such as the Holocaust".
Details of the Auschwitz project is available on the website, www.lfaproject.org.uk.
Mrs Angela Smith, Team Leader for RE