Unforgettable: Lessons from Auschwitz

On Tuesday 12^th March five members of the Sixth Form set off in the rain for Stanstead Airport, destination, Oswiecim, Poland, home to Auschwitz. On arrival at the airport the group were by met by their guide and trip organiser, Chuni Khan from Kahan Travel, who greeted them with amazing smoked salmon bagels and joined them up with the other school groups sharing the visit. Upon arrival at Krakow Airport, all 50 students and staff boarded the coach to the outskirts of Oswiecim, with Chuni taking the opportunity on board to talk to the group and to show some videos in preparation for the next day.

The trip to the original concentration camp, Auschwitz I, the next morning was a short one and as the group walked down the road from the entrance towards the gate with the infamous sign Arbeit Macht Frei, the enormity of the location really began to sink home. The guide was outstanding, clearly explaining the exhibitions and locations on the tour, allowing everyone time to reflect and take in everything, from the piles of possessions taken from those arriving the camps, including glasses and shoes, to the basement where the first murders using gas were carried out.

Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a short drive away, contrasted starkly with the two-storey brick buildings at Auschwitz I. It consisted of hundreds of wooden huts, only a small minority of which survive today. On arrival at Birkenau the group scaled the tower of the gatehouse and from the top could clearly see the sheer scale of the camp laid out before them. The guide took them around several of the wooden huts before walking them down the railway line that run through the centre of the camp towards the ruins of the main gas chamber and crematorium destroyed by the Nazis in an attempt to hide the evidence of the crimes which had been perpetrated. Beside the main memorial all the groups on the tour paused for a short period of reflection led by our guide Chuni.

History teacher, Chris Tyer, who accompanied the students from Leighton Park commented, “The opportunity to visit Auschwitz is an exceptional privilege and we are immensely grateful to Chuni Kahan from Kahan Travel and Chesterhill Charitable Trust Limited for enabling the trip to happen.”

Lower Sixth former, Shaun, reflected on the effect the trip had on him: “The trip to Auschwitz was the most moving and fascinating trips I have ever been part of. The sheer scale of Auschwitz took me by shock and I was horrified that such an event happened not so long ago. I was emotionally moved after seeing the thousands of pairs of shoes preserved after so many years. It upset me to see the horrific conditions and life so many European Jews had to suffer from in the concentration camp. It was a trip that I will never forget for the rest of my life and I think it is important not to forget the past so we never ever repeat such an atrocity in the future. It is also important never to forget the voiceless millions who tragically lost their lives just because of their religion/race.”