As part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s “Lessons from Auschwitz” program, two of our Sixth year students recently visited Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps along with 200 other pupils from across Scotland. Our students, Freya Mitchell and Mariyah Arif,  were accompanied by Ms. McMillan of the Social Subjects department.

They flew to Krakow alongside First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, pupils and teachers from other Scottish schools.

The visit itself involved a tour around both Auschwitz and Birkenau camps from a guide who had worked there for over 40 years. The trip culminated in a memorial service with speeches from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Karen Pollock MBE Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust and Rabbi Daniel Epstein.

Our students expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of such an important initiative and spoke of the profound experience they had there, which will soon be used to educate other pupils at the school about the Holocaust as part of Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2019.