National Holocaust Memorial Day
A group of 20 sixth year pupils attended a National Holocaust Memorial Day event yesterday at Eastwood Theatre and Head boy, John Lynch and Head Girl, Francesca Crilley attended a similar evening event.
The event included a “Gathering the Voices” exhibition and keynote speeches from:
- Cabinet Secretary Aileen Campbell; Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government
- Martin Stern – a Holocaust survivor
- Farida Abbas Khalaf – Farida is a Yazidi survivor of ISIS enslavement and genocide in Northern Iraq
- Kirsty Robson – Kirsty is a former pupil of Barrhead High School and a regional ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust.
The event included music provided by East Renfrewshire Schools’ String Octet and a performance by Paisley Grammar Celtic Ensemble.
Lessons from Auschwitz Programme 2018-19
Below Holly Edgar (6a1) tells of her experience on the Lessons from Auschwitz Programme 2018-19.
On 30th October 2018, 200 students from across Scotland, accompanied by volunteers from the Holocaust Educational Trust and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, participated in the “Lessons from Auschwitz” Project.
Over 37,000 school pupils have taken part in this project since it began in 1999. It focuses on keeping the memory of the Holocaust victims alive and involves a one-day trip to Poland. Once there, the pupils visit the Polish town of Oświęcim, before going on to visit the Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.
The experience I had in Poland is not one I will ever forget. First, we stopped in the town square in Oświęcim, where we learned about Jewish life before the war. What was once a busy town with a successful Jewish population now stands quiet. Oświęcim no longer has a Jewish Population.
After leaving the town, we were taken to the Auschwitz 1 Concentration Camp. It seemed almost surreal to be walking in a place that until then had been confined in my mind to history textbooks. The site of Auschwitz 1 had been restored to a museum; where the remaining belongings of the victims were stored. We visited Block 5, which houses the material evidence of the Nazis’ crimes. The suitcases and shoes which people had brought with them were displayed in glass cases, as well as some rare photographs of life in the camp. People brought their most prized possessions with them. Some were forced to come, but others willingly packed up their lives and came to these camps- they thought they would go home. The most moving item to see was the victims’ hair. Prisoners had their heads shaved by the Nazis. Hair was also removed to stop the spread of lice, but the Nazis also used it in industry to make mattresses and fabrics. Hair is very personal, and seeing the hair of over 140,000 people is not something any of us could ever forget.
Auschwitz 1 is home to the reconstructed gas chamber, Krema 1. We were escorted inside this chamber, its exterior betraying nothing of the history within. The air inside was dark and heavy, as if you could feel the history of the room by just standing there. You could still see the grates in the ceiling where the Zyklon-B gas was poured into the chamber. Beside this chamber was the Krema 1 crematorium, where ovens were used to incinerate of the bodies.
Auschwitz 1 has an area of 20 hectares- the equivalent of 32 football pitches. Auschwitz Birkenau is thirty times the size of Auschwitz 1. While Auschwitz 1 was built originally as a labour camp, Auschwitz Birkenau was built for extermination. Most of the buildings in the second camp were destroyed by the Nazis in a bid to hide the evidence of their crimes, but some were reconstructed at a later date. The stone chimneys, which stretch out into the distance, are all that is left of the original buildings. We walked through the guard tower (“The Gate of Death”) and made our way along the train lines. Along the way we entering various cabins and witnessed the awful sleeping conditions in the camp.
At the end of the line was the rubble from the Nazis’ largest gas chambers. There were four Krema in Birkenau, of which Krema 2 was the largest. The Nazis destroyed the site of the chamber days before the camp was liberated on 27th January 1945. 1.3 million people were deported to the Auschwitz camps, 90% of whom were Jewish. Of the 1.3 million, over 1.1 million were murdered in the gas chambers.
Before leaving the camp we took part in a service where we lit candles in memory of the victims. It was a truly emotional experience, one which will shape us for the rest of our lives.
The events of the Holocaust happened over 70 years ago. The number of Holocaust survivors is dwindling, and soon WWII will cease to be a part of living memory. There is a quote from George Santayana on display in Auschwitz 1 which reads, “The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again.” This is why it is essential that we remember the Holocaust, its reasons for being, and its consequences. The aim of the “Lessons From Auschwitz” Programme is to create new witnesses to the Holocaust. By remembering, we are making a commitment: Never Again.
