Auschwitz testimonials

Here we present testimonials from some of the Scottish school pupils who participated in one of the last Auschwitz trips.

Contributors

Kimberley Douglas, Jennifer Dimmock, Rebecca Hutcheon, Alanna Clague, Joe Coombey, Euan Murray, Calum Poskitt-Marshall, Thomas Downs, Holly Bathgate, Louise Montgomery, Emily Rimmer, Kirsty Gray, Annaliese Johnston, Phoebe Marks, Edith Carmichael, Lara Wauchope, Carma Gillies, Andrew Ashe, Eoin Smith, Gavin Shepherd


Kimberley Douglas, Grangemouth High School, Grangemouth, Stirlingshire

The valuable insight I gained during the Lessons from Auschwitz journey will remain with me through my entire life. The almost unbelievable and horrific sights we viewed were startlingly brought to life by accounts from Survivors of their time in the camps. This reinforced to me that although it is vital to understand the massive number of lives that were taken, it is even more important to remember that everyone involved in the Holocaust was an individual, each with their own story and history.
I learned that although we cannot change the past; we have a duty to ensure that it is never forgotten; if the facts about the Holocaust are diluted or, even worse, forgotten then history will undoubtedly repeat itself. Being part of the Lessons from Auschwitz Project is an honour and I fully intend to do my small part in sharing the lessons.

Jennifer Dimmock, Royal High School, Edinburgh

Many think that the Holocaust is part of the past but visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau has taught us the relevance that these places have to us today. I went on the visit thinking I was learning about history - that I would treat the experience the way I would any other time period; in facts and figures. However, it turned out that I learned more about myself and about humanity than I did about history. Auschwitz is a place born out of intolerance and dehumanisation. It serves as a warning to everyone: those who lash out against difference forget that we are all the same. It shows you where discrimination can lead and the importance of challenging it. It shows you that everyone has a part to play in stopping discrimination whether it is racism, ageism or sexism. I think that is the real lesson of Auschwitz.

Rebecca Hutcheon, Buckie High School, Buckie, Banffshire

Why did mankind inflict such pain and suffering? WHY did innocent people suffer such atrocities? My mind is awash with these thoughts after a life-changing experience visiting Auschwitz.

It was heart-rending standing there, on the spot where countless men, women and children suffered and died. Reading about the Holocaust, is hard to comprehend, but to see where this event took place makes me realise how fortunate I am.

Lighting a memorial candle after a commemorative ceremony, it was heartbreaking to walk along the railway line thinking of children entering this horrendous death camp. Reaching the end was so emotional, but this was a beginning for me. I could walk out of the gates, continue my life, appreciate my freedom and tell others of my experience so this atrocity is never forgotten and to bear witness against those who would deny that their crime against humanity ever happened.

Alanna Clague, Queen Anne High School, Dunfermline, Fife

Before visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau I felt it belonged to a part of history - one we should remember but that did not necessarily apply to our everyday lives. However it has become clear to me that I was very much mistaken and that Auschwitz is not only an emotional and thought-provoking place but it also carries lessons we can take into our everyday lives. Auschwitz stands as a constant reminder to the horrific capabilities of mankind. It shows us what ignorance and prejudice can create. To us making a malicious comment may seem harmless, but under Nazi rule ignorance and prejudice contributed to the deaths of 6 million people. Some will tell you that the Holocaust never happened and I feel these people are doomed to repeat history through their ignorance. The experience for me was very emotional and rewarding and emphasised that hearing about history is not like seeing it in person.

Joe Coombey, Kirkcudbright Academy, Kirkcudbright

Do you know how long it would take you to observe a minute of silence for each death at Auschwitz-Birkenau? Two years.

It was this fact which made me truly realise that we cannot forget the horrendous atrocity that was the Holocaust. The visit was valuable in so many ways as it helped me to understand. Understand what life was like for Jews before the war by visiting the Polish town of Oswiescim. Understand the great amount of organisation put into the 'Final Solution'. Understand the huge number of individuals and families killed and affected by the mass murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Understand that we cannot and shall not forget what terrible things happened under this Nazi regime which made mass murder of innocent people seem acceptable and normal. Understand that we need to spread the message so nothing like it can ever happen again.

Euan Murray, Linlithgow Academy, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Despite reading and hearing stories about the Holocaust and even visiting the most infamous site of them all, Auschwitz-Birkenau, I still don't quite comprehend it all. It's the numbers which confound me; 6 million people were killed in Europe over a four year period. Scotland's current population is 5.1 million. You simply can't draw a comparison to such a loss of human life. The frightening thing about it is that the killers were not the insane goose-stepping maniacs that many assume they must have been; they were ordinary people, doing their day job. As I walked down the railway tracks towards the iconic guard tower, the loneliness of the vast place was overwhelming. I don't think we will ever fully understand the experiences of the victims or the survivors but what we must do is ensure no one ever has to experience them again.

Calum Poskitt-Marshall, Alloa Academy, Alloa, Clackmannanshire

One hundred fifty words are all I have to write about my experience at Auschwitz; but is that really enough to convey what I have seen? The single greatest failure of society as a whole ever. The simple answer is no. The things that I have seen, heard and learned will stay with me forever and I shall never forget the lessons from my trip. In one day my view of the world, humanity and my beliefs were shaken and tested. Back home it is easy to distance ourselves from the Holocaust and deal with faceless facts and figures; but on a cold September day in Poland I discovered the human side of the Holocaust. I bore witness to the effects of the most brutal crime in history and ultimately my view of the world has forever been changed. Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.

Thomas Downs, Falkirk High School, Falkirk

Reflecting on my visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the "Lesson from Auschwitz" that emerged most prominently was to acknowledge but avoid the devastation that will undoubtedly follow in a world of bystanders enveloped in impenetrable prejudice. The Jews were initially resistant to their anti-Semitic segregation into unsanitary ghettos but the threat of inward betrayal combined with deteriorating health stigmatised the Jews as the weak who were to be "weeded out" by the stronger and "perfect" Aryan race in a Darwinian manner. This euphemistically depicted process continued when deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the extermination camp - at least 1.1 million times over. The origins of the Holocaust and current issues such as bullying and gang culture are undeniably alike - perpetrators harming on the basis of unfounded discrimination. It is my desire that these lessons will provide perpetrators with restraint and inward reflection; victims with strength and bystanders with a warning of the dangers of their inactivity.

Holly Bathgate, Broughton High School, Edinburgh

Like most of the participants I was unsure of what to expect from my visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After hearing the testimony of Kitty Hart-Moxon, a Holocaust Survivor, I feel like my experienced was enriched - I saw the places that she had described, where she had worked, where she watched her friends be sent to death. In this way I had in my mind a human link which helped make my visit to Auschwitz much more insightful than any textbook could have been. I now understand better the necessity for tolerance and tackling prejudice and I feel that the horror and despair can give way to some hope for the future and that just a few generations on we can learn from the grave mistakes of others. Clichéd though it may seem, I honestly believe that this experience has been life changing and that the lessons learnt can help to make the world better.

Louise Montgomery, Denny High School, Denny, Stirlingshire

It is hard for me to put my experience of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau into words. Not until I saw the camps did I realise the extreme impact of the Holocaust. I felt totally empty. I couldn't believe the extent of people forced to give up their careers, homes, families and lives just because of their beliefs or ways of living. The Lessons from Auschwitz Project helped me understand that every single person who suffered at the hands of the Nazis was an individual with their own life, interests and talents and deserves to be remembered.
We must never give up trying to improve our society. This visit taught me that every single person has to open their mind and stand up against discrimination. If you don't, who will?

Emily Rimmer, Selkirk High School, Selkirk

I was nervous before we visited Auschwitz, as I did not know how I would react. I was also excited, recognising that a great life experience lay ahead. The Holocaust Educational Trust educators who accompanied us made the day special through their approach to leading discussions. The testimonies and poems they read were extremely touching, successfully re-humanising the story of the Holocaust. I was shocked and very emotional throughout the day because of the sufferings of the Jewish people and because of the issues being raised. How could this happen and why didn't people stop it? It made me recognise how important it is to think for yourself and to act when something is wrong. Rabbi Barry Marcus' explanation that prejudice and intolerance lead to discrimination and persecution made a big impact on me, as there is a lot of prejudice and intolerance in Britain today. If the Holocaust can happen once it could happen again. Education is the key to help prevent this.

Kirsty Gray, St. Margaret's School, Edinburgh

Walking down the railway line towards the gates to Auschwitz-Birkenau, I looked around, rows of wooden barracks as far as my eyes could see - the unimaginable scale of human loss has an overwhelming impact on you.

Standing at the point where families were separated and selected for work or the gas chambers you can sense the anguish, trauma and terror that so many must have suffered as they were cruelly and forcibly parted from their loved ones. There were no goodbyes.

Seeing the piles of shoes and collections of glasses and human hair there is a piercing realisation that these once belonged to fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, grandparents - families no different from ours - ruthlessly exterminated.

Seeing firsthand what happened less than 70 years ago just hours from our shores had a profound impact on us all. We must never forget.

Annaliese Johnston, Hazlehead Academy, Aberdeen

We are told in our History classes or in documentary films that over 6 million people perished during the Holocaust. This is such a huge number that it is sometimes hard to comprehend what this means. But with this visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, putting faces to the numbers profoundly affected me. All these 6 million people were individuals, with personal hopes, dreams, stories and belongings. Such as the suitcases, confiscated by the Nazi's, with names, dates of birth, addresses. Or the piles of real human hair, plaits with ribbons, ponytails, these came from real people, who were not just numbers in a textbook. That is why I think that re-humanising the Holocaust is so important today. We cannot just remember it as a fact in History. We must remember it as a lesson that prejudice, hate and intolerance against groups of people can turn into the destruction of individual lives.

Phoebe Marks, George Watson's College, Edinburgh

Visiting Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust and seeing the cases of clothing, shoes and personal belongings was truly overwhelming. Each item representing the life of an innocent individual, enslaved, separated from loved ones, worked to exhaustion and eventually slaughtered, merely for having a different religion.

An inscription on the wall of Auschwitz I, a quote by George Santayana, reads, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Such extreme acts of wanton cruelty, conducted by so few but condoned by so many, led to the extermination of millions. The Holocaust is the clearest example of how simple prejudice can lead to such evil. Subsequent generations must be shown and learn the lessons of our past to ensure that we remain vigilant in resisting any discriminatory actions in the future.

Edith Carmichael, Tobermory High School

I feel truly honoured to have taken part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project. Not only did I learn an enormous amount of information concerning the Holocaust; I think the visit helped influence the future for many young individuals who participated. It is unbelievable to think there were people such as Adolf Hitler in this world, as well as those people who followed his ideology. To contemplate slaughtering millions of people is just too difficult to comprehend. The visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau not only highlighted the lives lost in this tragedy but also added a great sense of value to the lives we lead today. I firmly believe that the message of saying no to discrimination could be acted upon in everybody's life. I will also now appreciate each moment of the life I have and the people I share it with because I sometimes forget how lucky I am.

Lara Wauchope, North Berwick High School

A burning question comes to mind: Has the world really learnt our lesson from the Holocaust? It's a question that taxes many. In my mind the answer is no.

On the Lessons from Auschwitz Project, we learnt many lessons: not to ignore problems of genocide, violent threats and prejudice in the world. We have come to understand that we cannot be oblivious to such problems and that humanity needs to learn this lesson.

This is a lesson our society should have learned but I'm left unconvinced. Is the government helping the victims of conflicts and genocide in every way possible? Closer to home, prejudice against asylum seekers is a problem. Political parties have policies restricting the numbers of asylum seekers allowed into the UK, some more extreme than others.

The Nazis were powerful, too powerful, and we need to understand the full effect this had, in order to stop a situation similar to the Holocaust ever happening again.

Carma Gillies, St David's High School, Midlothian

How can a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau be an uplifting experience and enrich your life? Between 1.1-1.5 million perished there. The two-hour flight to Krakow closed the distance between Poland and Scotland and made the atrocities of history relevant to our lives, today.

If seeing is believing, I would question how many people truly see what this macabre graveyard will show us about ourselves. I still can't seem to understand what made either the victims or the perpetrators so different to us. Visiting Auschwitz has changed my outlook, and made me realise just how much our society takes for granted.

Auschwitz reminds us that evil still exists. We can't do anything about the past, but we can do something about the future, we are all equal, and we have the right to exist. We are no different to those who perished. We need to do something they never got the chance to, and that is speak out. I realised a valuable lesson: I'm here to make a difference and stand out, and not be another face in the crowd.

Andrew Ashe, St Aidan's High School, Wishaw, Lanarkshire

I felt that many lessons were taught throughout my day in Auschwitz-Birkenau and as a result I value my life and humanity on a level that I didn't know was possible. The most thought-provoking lesson I learned was how the lessons of the Holocaust can be applied to our everyday lives. Throughout the experience we considered how many ordinary people were involved in the Holocaust and just how dangerous prejudice and discrimination can be - not only to a society but humanity as a whole.

I believe that everyone can take this into their own lives and eradicate any prejudice they carry for any person or group. We can all take a part in tackling discrimination and prejudice in school, in the workplace and ultimately in society, through educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust. This will result in an increased value of human life and a more harmonious society.

Eoin Smith, Hazlehead Academy, Aberdeen

We are the last generation fortunate enough to hear from living Holocaust survivors; the last generation to learn about the horrors which befell millions of Jews, gypsies and others across Europe from someone with firsthand knowledge. But even hearing from a survivor did not prepare us for actually setting foot in Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the town of Oswiecim. Everywhere we turned reminders of the horrific, bloody past faced us: rooms full of suitcases, baby clothes, two tonnes of human hair; straw-filled cells. In a world where people claim the atrocities of the Holocaust should not be taught to schoolchildren because "it might upset them," the Lessons from Auschwitz Project keeps alive the memory of those tragically lost, and educates to prevent catastrophes like this from ever happening again.

Gavin Shepherd, Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh

Six million. What is it? A number. Yet it has special significance for the world. It is the number of people, predominantly Jews, who died in the Holocaust.

When the Holocaust comes to mind everyone thinks of Auschwitz, it lingers in the back of ones mind a festering reminder to the darkest period of human history. As you walk through the exhibitions a numbness descends and it feels as if there is a wire inside your head constricting until you can think of nothing else apart from the horror and evil of the time.

The important thing that is often forgotten is that it was six million individuals who died; not a collective taken together. Families torn apart: Children holding on to their parents as they walk to the chambers, husband and wife separated, friends lost forever.
That is the Holocaust.