Outline of the Project
On 2 February, we attended our first seminar, where we were taught mainly about pre-war Jewish life and were given a few case studies on real life examples of Jewish families before the war. Furthermore, we had a wonderful meeting with an actual Holocaust survivor who detailed her plight from the Nazi regime in Poland – quite an eye-opening experience.
We visited Poland on 7 February, equipped with the details of the trip from the orientation seminar, and took a tour around various Holocaust-era sites such as Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and we were also meant to visit Oświęcim but our schedule was too tight for that stop. However, our tour guides still gave us the sufficient knowledge about the town so that we could understand the roots of Auschwitz (Oświęcim renamed by the Nazis). At the end of the Poland trip, we took part in a memorial ceremony, where numerous other students lit candles for the victims of the Holocaust, and listened to our tour guide Rabbi Shaw’s speech on the event.
On 11 February, we attended an online follow up seminar, which helped us reflect on our day visit to Poland. We engaged in break-out rooms with students from other schools, and it was an interesting experience collating our knowledge and feelings on the topic. We were also given details about our Next Steps project which involved creating a “medium” in which we could present what we had learnt to our wider community. Our Next Steps project involved some presentations to Year 10 GCSE historians, and we believe that we have developed a more Holocaust aware group of people within our school.
The Seminars & Visit to Poland
This project was an eye-opening experience, with us attending several seminars, and getting the rare occasion to speak to some survivors of the Holocaust who held eye-witness accounts of the tragedy. We were told about her perilous plight of evasion from Nazi-occupied Poland and the tense confrontations with both friend and foe, all culminating in her escape to sanctuary, away from her war-torn hometown. Along with this meeting with the survivor, we were assigned into break-out rooms where we’d discuss topics such as pre-war Jewish life and the preservation of Holocaust sites such as Auschwitz-Birkenau. To truly visualise the information given to us during the seminars, we were sent on a trip to Oświęcim (the location of Auschwitz) in Poland where we saw buildings such as the Death Gates of Auschwitz II-Birkenau and the “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Sets You Free) sign leading to the entrance of Auschwitz I. The weather was bitterly cold and that truly encapsulated the experience of Jews held in captivity in the Auschwitz camp. We met people such as Rabbi Shaw who gave us an overview of what it was like in these camps, and at the end of the trip, there was a ceremony commemorating the lives lost in the Holocaust.
Next Steps Work in School
We would like to think that the follow-up presentations we did with the Year 10 classes were informative and somewhat interesting. We had many enthusiasts about the topic at hand, and we were engaging with a very lively audience that questioned us on some unclear aspects of the Holocaust, which challenged us as we had to really bring out our A-Level History analysis and evaluation skills to answer them to our fullest potentials. For example, we discussed the reasons why this genocide was not stopped by the international community. We believe that these presentations helped further our communication skills as Holocaust Ambassadors, preparing us to bear the torch to enlighten future generations on the tragic events of the genocide.
Reflections
Participating in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project was a transformative experience that expanded our understanding not only of the Holocaust but on the wider impact of key events in history. We are grateful for this experience as it has allowed us to see the long-lasting impact of the Holocaust and why it holds such a strong sentimental value in society. One of the most significant moments on the trip was when we saw the belongings of the Jewish people such as their pots and pans, suitcases, the hair of the women and girls, prosthetic legs, and shoes of the Jewish people. This was particularly significant to us as it showed how de-humanising and atrocious the Nazi actions were, this is because from all the years of learning about the Nazis in lessons nothing quite puts it into perspective like this did on how brutal it was. The belongings allowed us to relate and to somehow connect to the victims as they have so much in common yet were treated like aliens.
History and the Holocaust
This trip has helped us further understand the importance of history, as the time-tested theory that, “those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it” has been demonstrated through numerous catastrophic events similar to the Holocaust. Many dismiss history as an archaic subject with little relevance to modern society, but this could not be further from the truth. Studying events such as the Holocaust teaches us about the human experience of suffering, resilience, and the consequences of intolerance. By learning about these tragedies of pure human evil, we not only honour the victims but also recognise and combat hatred in all its forms. History fosters empathy and encourages us to build a more tolerant and peaceful society, ensuring that future atrocities like the Holocaust never resurface. As historians and as a wider society, we must not let key historical events like this fade into the recesses of our minds; it is crucial to follow up on the lessons taken from the Holocaust and actively work to prevent such prejudices from occurring again. We, as a society should aim to create a world where such crimes are not seen as “permissible” or “tolerable” – a world where hate is stamped out at the source, so that atrocities such as the Holocaust never happen again. This project has strengthened our understanding of this horrific event and reinforced our commitment to opposing intolerance, helping us contribute to a society free from hatred.
This image serves to show us as a society, that victims are just like us – they feel pity, they feel joy, they feel rage. They should be treated with the same courtesy as the rest of us. Not to be demonised because they are portrayed as monsters, such as in the case of the Holocaust.
Arvind Mann (12KBE) & Tinron Chan (12ASO)
