Editor’s Note: The following report by two students is from the May 2008 issue of Networking: Catholic Education Today (page 13). Following the report is a very moving video by students of their visit.

Sarah Lee and I participated in “The Holocaust Educational Trust” during February and March. Two students from each sixth form across the UK were invited to take part in this opportunity which enabled us to visit Auschwitz death camp in Poland, in one day.

Although this was a hardworking four part process it was the most rewarding experience both of us have ever been involved with. We not only learnt the facts, but also what we, as a human race, can learn from Auschwitz today.

The first part of the course involved attending an orientation seminar in London on 18th February. Here we met up with our group (approximately 200 other students from across the Eastern region of the UK) and were privileged to meet an actual survivor of the Holocaust, Josef Perl. This really opened our minds to what we had signed up for, as the way in which the seminar was put across really put things into perspective for us. The only way you can ever begin to understand the Holocaust is to not imagine 6 million Jews murdered cold heartedly “but to imagine one person who was part of one family in one community plus one, plus one, plus one … ” (Josef Peri’s book, “Faces in the Smoke”).

As Alex Maws, the Director of the Trust, finished welcoming us, he introduced Josef to us. Up rose a white haired gentleman from the seats in front of us who walked slowly to the centre of the room, looked up, gave a warm smile and gestured his hands in a thumbs up position and said “all right everyone?!” As he was standing there telling us his story, you could see that although physically he was in the room with us, his eyes quite obviously suggested he was once again that ten year old little boy in the midst of the horrors of the Holocaust. I think if we had not heard his speech it would have been very hard to go over to Auschwitz with an understanding of the way it affected the lives of so many individuals like that of Joe and his family.

26th February: The day of the actual visit. We woke up bright and early at the very unsociable hour of 2.00 am! Without much sleep we took a taxi to Luton airport where we caught the plane over to Krakow, Poland.

“Hearing is not like seeing” we had been told and this is certainly the case, as no matter how much we knew of the facts of the Holocaust, nothing could have prepared us for what we were seeing. I think the hardest hitting thing for me was the great mound of hair. A blonde mass of tangled, knotted hair piled up on top of what seemed a never-ending pit. Literally crammed into the huge case were stuffed delicate woven plaits, with pins still visible.

To actually stand there in front of this seemed corrupt and unjust. If we had been standing on that same spot 60 years earlier, our hair would have been part of that pile and used as an everyday material to create the Nazis’ uniforms.

When asked back at home about this visit, certain questions arose “Did you have a good day?” and “Did you enjoy yourself?” Looking back, the whole experience was undoubtedly a worthwhile one and one that neither Sarah nor I will ever be able to forget. But when thinking of it, the words “good” and “enjoy” are most certainly not ones we would use to describe the visit.

The penultimate part of the process was to return to the hotel in London on 9th March to discuss our experiences with the group. One comment that was mentioned about Auschwitz was that it reminded one girl of a film set. When thinking about it, this is exactly how it was. When you walk into the centre of Peterborough, or down your road at home, there is an atmosphere of people living. Even if the road is quiet and you are the only one on it, there is still that element of life. When walking around

the camp there was no atmosphere. Although at one time it would have been busy with Nazis walking around it, today it is as though nothing ever lived or grew there at all.

Sarah and I are now in the process of completing a follow-up project in and around the school to educate others about what we saw firsthand and we hope to be able to convey our experience and knowledge in as much depth as was given to us at the seminars.

We would like to thank Mrs Carter for organising our visit and Mrs Patel for accompanying us.

Katrina Hartley (& Monica) Year 13. St. John Fisher R.C. School, Peterborough

The video which follows was made by students of a visit supported by The Holocaust Educational Trust.

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