A reflection from S6 pupils Kaitlyn and Jessica:
We were humbled to participate in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project, part of this project was a day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. In visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau we saw first-hand the atrocities committed during Hitlers Nazi regime.
Before we arrived, we were given the history of the town. We learned that Auschwitz-Birkenau was in a town with the name Oswiecim. It was only given its infamous name during the reign of the Nazis. On approach to the town, we visited a Jewish Cemetery where we saw many graves desecrated again this was during the Nazi regime when they constructed a road through the centre of the cemetery. Many bodies were left with no headstones or the incorrect headstones. even in the present day the cemetery has to remain under lock and key due to antisemitic attacks.
Walking through the gate into Auschwitz was a very somber experience as we understood that so many Jewish people had walked this path before they were murdered. The most visually horrifying things that we observed were the piles of shoes, hair, pots and pans and suitcases There was 7 tons of hair, over 100,000 adult shoes and 10,000 children’s shoes all found after the camp was liberated. The most upsetting for us was seeing the luggage as you could see people’s names inscribed on some of the suitcases. Also scratches on walls of gas chamber as it emphasised the sheer terror and agony of peoples last moments as they tried to escape the chamber.
In Birkenau, out of the 300 barracks built in the camp only 26 remain. Each barrack was only made to hold 400 people, but in reality the number was well over 600. Birkenau was built to house 125,000 prisoners. The train tracks that lead to the gas chamber were known as the Walk of Death, prisoners were either selected to work or sent to the gas chambers. It was mainly women and children who were sent to gas chambers. After we were shown round Birkenau, we took part in a memorial service which we think was important as we were remembering the individual lives lost, instead of remembering them as just a number.
