Once again, students and a member of staff from Prince Henry’s have been given the opportunity to learn more about the Holocaust, including a visit to Auschwitz through a programme offered by the Holocaust Educational Trust’s “Lessons from Auschwitz” project. This year, Mrs Webb accompanied four Sixth Form students – Harriet Arnold, Jack Brown, James Stone and Annabelle White – on the visit. These are some of the photos the group took, and below is an article which Harriet and Jack have written about their experience.
On Wednesday 26th March we embarked on an emotionally charged visit to Auschwitz in Poland. Firstly we visited the site of a reconstructed synagogue where we gained an insight into the Jewish way of life. Following this we went to Auschwitz 1 where the first gas chamber was built. We had the opportunity to go inside which was possibly one of the most emotional parts of the day as up to 2000 people were gassed each day inside the chamber. The remnants of this tragedy could be seen in the horrific scratches on the walls made by the people inside trying to escape. More shocking still were the corridors of confiscated shoes and the vast quantities of hair taken from the victims before they entered the gas chamber.
However, the worst was yet to come as we then visited the purpose built death camp, Auschwitz Birkenau. From the top of the watchtower we had a view of the whole camp which seemed to stretch for miles. Inside the barracks, which housed around 7000 people, instead of the 52 horses it was originally intended for, we witnessed the appalling living conditions which the prisoners faced including wooden bunk beds and communal toilets. At the end of the day we took part in a moving ceremony led by Rabbi Marcus in front of the memorial. We listened to poems and prayers, and lit candles to remember the victims of the genocide which took place there. Overall the experience was both educational and emotional as we saw for ourselves the terrible conditions that the prisoners had to face during their time at Auschwitz.
Jack Brown and Harriet Arnold
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