Two ambassadors were selected to attend the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ visit in November. This involved going on a one day visit to Auschwitz with pupils from different schools, learning about the Holocaust. Pupils then wrote a report about their experience and delivered it to younger pupils in the school.

The following are extracts from the reflective reports written by the pupils:

‘Lessons from Auschwitz has definitely changed my understanding of the Holocaust’.

‘…I learned more of the deeper levels to the Holocaust and the different types of people that were victims to the Holocaust. I also learned stories of the victims who were affected by the Holocaust and that helped me understand more of the millions of people who died due to the Holocaust that had a life and a story to go with it, they were not just the numbers that died.’

‘The part that resonated with me was the story of the Auschwitz victim who hid his written letters and started them by addressing the reader, who is us. That just shows that he had hope that one day this will stop and this horrific situation will come to surface for the world to see how terrible the Nazis and collaborators were, this story stuck to me as even in a horrific time and place of constant misery and absence of hope, this victim never believed that the Nazis would win, he had so much hope that he knew one day the people he would first address to in his letters would find them and read them. It is so important to learn about stories like this in the Holocaust as it is so powerful to reflect on today and it helps give an effective perspective to the Holocaust.’

‘…the vast amount of ground showed just how large the concentration camp really was and seeing the gas chambers and crematorium was incredibly disturbing. It didn’t feel like I was in a place of absolutely monstrous acts, it felt like I was simply on a movie set. I don’t mean to sound so crude, but it is incredibly hard to imagine anyone being able to imprison and murder millions of innocent families.’

‘Overall, I found the trip to be incredibly thought-provoking, and it was an incredible yet depressing journey to experience. I learned a lot that I hadn’t even thought of before and it really helped me to understand what the prisoners may have gone through, although I don’t think we’ll ever truly be able to grasp the full extent of terror they had faced.’