Will Scott & Ram Mashru, The Willink School

The trip can best be summarised as a journey of enlightenment – and although of an invariably sinister and perturbing nature, this was perhaps no bad thing. The message of the Holocaust and its implications, delivered from so far beyond the realm of the classroom, is one that I feel has surely not passed by any of the students who took part.

This message became clear through spending considerable time at the sites of both camps. Despite the compression of the visits into the space of just a few hours, this time proved sufficient for a detailed exploration of the barracks and exhibitions as well as the expanse of notorious, semi-intact remains. The sights we experienced ranged from the displays of a huge quantity of victims’ possessions to rows of bunk beds which were shard by up to twelve people each. The way in which so many innocent individuals were affected and the terrible living conditions they must have endured thus became clear.

I found an important addition to be the closing ceremony overlooking Birkenau’s ‘death gate,’ which featured reflection time, several readings and a poignant address by Rabbi Barry Marcus of London's Central Synagogue.

Will Scott, The Willink School

During the ceremony it became possible to draw a link between the anti-Semitism that motivated the Holocaust, to issues such as modern day homophobia, Islamaphobia, attitudes towards immigrants in the media and school bullying. A significant part of the trip to Auschwitz was, indeed, the lessons we learnt and the messages we could take away from our visit.

The HET follow-up seminar gave us time to digest our experiences and come to a conclusion on our own thoughts and responses. The seminar helped to develop our reactions to the visit by hearing others speak and considering the relevance of the Holocaust today.

When thinking of the Holocaust, we see it as a horror we must repair, learn and move on from. A lesson many of us learned after our visit was to apply these principles to not only modem genocides, such as in Bosnia and Rwanda, but to the smaller scale prejudices we see every day - a racist joke, an unprovoked insult or a slanderous headline that we read and do not question.

The trip to Auschwitz was a powerful and overwhelming experience and the lessons learnt were invaluable. The visit was truly a once in a lifetime experience and I would urge all to take an opportunity to visit the camps.

Ram Mashru, The Willink School

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