Visiting Auschwitz

No longer do people stand at the cast iron entrance, beckoning in more people to be enclosed behind the barbed wire, never to see the outside world again.

A group of students from schools across Dorset has travelled the distance to Poland for a visit entitled Lessons from Auschwitz, to discover more about the history of Jews sent to concentration camps by Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

It is a trip that the Holocaust Educational Trust organises so that the young people can learn of the atrocities that faced thousands of people, in the hope that they can stop it from happening again.

Rabbi Barry Marcus, who leads each visit, starts by showing us around a Jewish synagogue. He explains that hundreds of the Torah, the Jewish holy book, were burned by the Nazis at the start of their reign of terror, and describes that moment as the beginning of the end.

He said: “On November 8, 1938, it was made legal by the authorities to trash Jewish homes, and so the Nazis burnt down 127 synagogues in the area of Krakow that night, and they burnt the scrolls in the synagogues.

“We knew that we had no future here. We were not seen as citizens and so we were treated with brutality, and this led to more than 1,000,000 Jews being killed.”

Over the next few hours, we see piles of shoes, taken from the Jews who crossed the gates of Auschwitz, and the suitcases that were emptied before their belongings were incinerated or sold on.

We also see collections of baby rattles, food tins and keepsakes, brushes and combs, glasses, and the human hair shaved from the heads of every person who was taken here. The building that houses this is entitled ‘Material Proof of Crimes’.

The sign at the entrance says ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ which translates as ‘Work Makes You Free’ in English.

Of course, from the moment the Jews passed those words, they would be anything but free to leave.

We also visit Birkenau, a much larger, open area, which is where train after train pulled in, carrying more than 1,000 passengers at a time.

Many did not know the reason why they were going there, which is evident in the fact that some paid for their own ticket to get there.

It acted as a quarantine camp, and was built from scratch on the land of seven villages, allowing space for extremely basic provisions to hold up to 90,000 people.

They say that 75 percent of those sent to a Nazi concentration camp were killed as soon as they arrived, and the rest were labelled fit to work.

People coming here were not told that this was the place they would die, or that as they arrived, they would be stripped of their possessions and, distressingly, their children.

We finish the visit with a memorial ceremony to the people who lost their lives in the concentration camps, and leave through the same gates that many thousands of people had previously crossed unaware of their fate.

As Rabbi Barry Marcus marks the end of the day, we hold a moment’s silence to spare a thought for those not given the same opportunity to leave the horrific scenes of the camp behind them.

What will you remember from the Auschwitz visit?

Kieran Smith, 15, from St Aldhelm’s Academy, said: “It was exciting and educational. I think the most memorable bit was when the Rabbi sang a prayer for everyone in Hebrew.”

Lauren Gale, 17, from St Aldhelm’s Academy, said: “I found it very beneficial and I’m not usually into history. It’s something from my younger years that I have always wanted to do.”

Becky Bryant, 17, from Corfe Hills School, said: “I had never got it in my head before the number of people who were involved. It was a really emotional day, especially seeing the gas chambers.”

Chelsea Duff, 16, from Corfe Hills School, said: “I didn’t realise how big the site was. The saddest thing was seeing all the baby clothes.”

Gemma Hart, 17, from Corfe Hills School, said: “When we saw the pile of suitcases and shoes, I felt sad. It was also sad to walk down the train lines at Birkenau.”