Once again, St. Stephen’s were lucky enough to win two places for our S6 pupils on the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme. This year, Sophie McCahill and Lauren Brown represented the school on the programme, which involved attending two seminars in Glasgow and visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps in Poland. As part of their ambassadorial role, the girls will make a presentation to all year group assemblies during Holocaust Memorial Week in January.

Both girls were profoundly affected by the experience. Lauren said, “I was honoured to be chosen to participate in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project. Hearing a survivor of the Holocaust speak was quite overwhelming. Even though I knew about the Holocaust, hearing someone who was actually involved made it seem even more real. It taught me that everyone individual involved in the Holocaust has their own personal story.”

Sophie added, “The most striking feature of both Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz Birkeneau was the scale of it all. What I learnt most from the trip was that it is vital to never forget the events of the Holocaust and remember everyone who suffered and died. Their memory has to live on in order to stop anything as horrific as the Holocaust happening again. It is now my responsible for me as an Ambassador of the Trust, to pass on all I have learned about the Holocaust to my peers, school and community.”