Learning lessons from Auschwitz

Joining me are 200 students from schools across the south, who have spent the day in Auschwitz learning about the atrocities that went on here and remembering the victims of the holocaust.

Unlike most of the people brought here during World War II, we are fortunate enough to be leaving. However, before we do, we observe a minute’s silence for the innocent people who were put to death here – if we did this for all those killed in this camp, we’d be here for over two years.

Although it is impossible to know exactly how many people the Nazis put to death, experts suggest it was around 12 million.

Roughly half of these were Jews, while the rest were political opponents of the Nazis, Russian prisoners of war and minorities such as gypsies, homosexuals and disabled people.

“We want to remember the victims as individuals and not statistics – to think of them as human beings just like us,” explains Anna Webb, co-ordinator for the Lessons From Auschwitz project.

“What we are trying to do is encourage students and other participants to think about the individuals.”

As we went around the camp we heard poems written by some of the victims while they were here in Auschwitz.

They personalised the holocaust and were poignant reminders of the horrors that happened here – the separation of families, the appalling living conditions and how the victims were completely oblivious of their fate until they were in the gas chambers.

The students, accompanied by teachers and local MP Annette Brooke, were visibly moved by the poems, which humanised the victims that the Nazis had so callously dehumanised.

As well as hearing poems we were also taken around an exhibition of photographs, which some of the victims had brought with them to Auschwitz.

There were pictures of families, lovers and pets, there were people smiling, partying and enjoying good times. It was heartbreaking.

“Seeing the family photos makes you recognise that the victims were just like us,” says Alistair Brien, a teacher at Bournemouth School for Girls.

“They were people with hopes, dreams and aspirations. It makes you appreciate what you’ve got.”

The group, which included students from the Bournemouth School for Girls, St Peter’s School, Talbot Heath School, Ferndown Upper School, Twynham School, Ashdown Technology College and Rossmore Community, were also reminded of the horrendous realities of the death camps.

We were shown the hair of thousands of victims, which had been shaved from their heads before they were taken to the gas chambers.

The Nazis had used the hair to make material for blankets and clothes.

There was also a room full of shoes, one full of suitcases and another full of artificial limbs. The holocaust victims, who thought they were starting a new life, had brought these items to the camp.

“In the room with the shoes I noticed a little baby’s shoe,” said Annette Brooke, as we left Auschwitz. “There were tears running down my face.”

Although this was a physically and mentally exhausting day for everyone involved, it was an important trip for these students.

“The way forward is to educate,” says Rabi Marcus from the Central Synagogue, London. “Students are the next generation, which is why their presence here is so important.

“We can’t change the past but we can change the present and the future.”

Teacher, Alistair Brien, added: “It is important for them but also in the way they share it with others – it will be far more meaningful for people of their age hearing it from them, rather than from adults.”

In 2005 Gordon Brown, who visited Auschwitz yesterday, announced funding for two students a years from every school in the country to visit the concentration camp.

Last week’s visit was part of this project, which is called Lessons From Auschwitz.

In their own words, those who went gave their thoughts on the visit.

Nerissa Chesterfield, Talbot Heath School “It’s hard hitting. When you learn about Auschwitz in the classroom you learn about figures and dates, you don’t learn the realities behind those figures.”

Philippa Hathaway, Bournemouth School for Girls “Seeing the hair and walking through the gas chambers was awful. I felt really bad for leaving because so many people didn’t, but I also felt so grateful.”

Clayton Treacher, St. Peter’s School “It’s just massive, I didn’t expect it to be so big. I’d heard a lot about Auschwitz and I knew it was going to be pretty full on, but I didn’t expect this.”

Katharine Clements, Canford School “It makes you realise that we are so lucky. We moan about the economy and these silly things every day, but they don’t matter. You need things like this to get a bit of perspective – I’m never going to whinge again.”

Michelle Lai, Talbot Heath School “The amount of hair was just frightening. I don’t know how the Nazis could use these people to their own end.” Eleanor Mitchell, Bournemouth School for Girls “I feel like I want to complain about the cold, but I know that I shouldn’t. I didn’t expect it to be this big. It’s bleak, the people here would have had no motivation. Walking through the gas chambers, following in the footsteps of millions of people was the worst part.”

Annette Brooke, MP Mid Dorset and North Poole Annette Brooke, MP for mid Dorset and North Poole “It’s a huge eye opener to see the scale of it and the conditions people had to live in. I think all the students got a tremendous amount out of it. They realised that their lives were quite comfortable and that they haven’t got a lot to complain about.”

Martin Ridley, teacher at St.Peter’s School “I can’t wait to get back to my family. You feel lucky to walk out.”