EVEN on a brilliant sunny day with the birds singing in the trees, the horror of what happened at Auschwitz II-Birkenau 65 years ago still manages to chill the bones.
Though now derelict, with the gas chambers reduced to piles of rubble, the place sends shivers through the spines of all who visit.
I was fortunate to accompany a group of Worcestershire students on a trip to the infamous death camp last week, and it's an experience that neither I, nor the teenagers, will forget.
For some, the whole experience was too much to comprehend and throughout the long and emotionally draining day, tears were shed.
Yet the visit was vitally important, to ensure society never forgets the millions of people murdered by the Nazis - more than 1.5 million of them at this one site - during the Second World War .
The Worcestershire teenagers were among more than 200 students, teachers and guests from across the West Midlands to visit Auschwitz, travelling there and back in one day on a trip organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.
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The trust aims to educate today's young people about the people who lost their lives at Auschwitz and about the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and homophobia.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), said: "HET's Lessons From Auschwitz Project is such a vital part of our work because it gives students the chance to understand the dangers and potential effects of prejudice and racism today.
Sylwia Nowak, teacher Ellen McMahon and Charlotte Sheed, from Evesham and Malvern Hills College, at Auschwitz I.
"The project encourages them to act on what they see and learn, and the inspiring work they go on to do in their local areas demonstrates the importance of the visit.
"With the support of recent Treasury funding, we are excited to be expanding the programme to enable many more students to experience this life-changing project."
The Government recently invested millions of pounds into the project, to enable two students from every sixth form in the UK to visit Auschwitz.
This trip, like many others organised throughout the year, saw students fly to Krakow, Poland, then make the first stop of the day in Osweicim, the town whose name was Germanised into Auschwitz.
But it was when we arrived at the camps, Auschwitz I, and later Auschwitz II-Birkenau, that the students began to get a real insight into the true horrors of the Holocaust.
At Auschwitz I students were able to walk through the famous gates of the forced labour camp and walk around the rows of barracks where prisoners were kept. In many, exhibitions inform students and a Polish guide describes the scale of the genocide.
The students get to see the millions of shoes, suitcases and other belongings plundered from the victims, and the hair shaved from the heads by the Nazis.
"Seeing the shoes and hair was a real shock," said 16-year-old Rachel Worsley, a student at the Chase in Malvern. "It made it so personal. These actually belonged to real people who were murdered at Auschwitz. It's just unbelievable."
Also at Auschwitz I students got the chance to step inside one of the gas chambers that claimed so many lives.
"It was very eerie standing inside the gas chamber and thinking of the people who perished inside," said Katie Woolstenhulme, 17, also a pupil at the Chase. "It's really hard to comprehend what went on here."
The philosophy behind HET's Lessons from Auschwitz project is that "hearing is not like seeing".
Pupils can read about the Holocaust in a textbook, and even watch films and documentaries, but to actually see it makes it all real.
A short bus ride from Auschwitz I is Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
This is probably the most famous camp, and is where the majority of the Jews murdered by the Nazis were brought.
A railway line runs directly through the middle of the camp, leading at the top to two gas chambers either side of the track.
Thousands of Jews and other prisoners, believing they were starting a new life, were brought in and sent straight to the chambers. Others were segregated for work, which for most also meant certain, eventual death.
"I can't believe how big the site is," said 16-year-old Charlotte Sheed, a student at Evesham and Malvern Hills College. "Imagining all the people who got off the train here and then sent straight to the gas chambers is just horrific."
For 17-year-old Sylwia Nowak the trip had an added poignancy. She moved from Poland to England two years ago, where she is now a student at Evesham and Malvern Hills College. Many of her relatives perished at Auschwitz.
"Coming here has been very emotional," she said.
"But it has been very important for me to see. I think everyone should come here and be made to realise what happened.
"We must never forget all of those people who were murdered.
"I have found it very moving, and at times I felt very angry, but I hope that the realisation of this place will help us to make a better future."
After an exhausting day, both physically and mentally, the day was rounded off with a special service of remembrance at the memorial erected within Auschwitz II-Birkenau, between the two main gas chambers.
Rabbi Barry Marcus led prayers, including one which he sang.
The sound of his voice ringing out among the rows of barracks, flanked by the now demolished gas chambers, was a particularly sobering moment.
It must be the first time I have ever seen such a large group of teenagers completely speechless and in awe of their surroundings.
In my humble opinion Auschwitz is a place every student, every teacher, every person should visit.
If only to reflect and to remember.
The memorial stone laid at the site read: "For ever let this place be a cry of despair to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women and children, mainly Jews, from various countries of Europe".
Posted by: merlin, worcester on 11:02pm Tue 13 May 08
As someone with a Jewish side to the family,I can assure you I understand peoples grief,but doubt that the same consideration will be shown to the 65 million and still rising innocent victims of communism/socialism.
Why is this? are these victims really any less worthy of our remembrance?
As someone with a Jewish side to the family,I can assure you I understand peoples grief,but doubt that the same consideration will be shown to the 65 million and still rising innocent victims of communism/socialism.
Why is this? are these victims really any less worthy of our remembrance?
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