LOCAL MP AND STUDENTS FROM ACROSS SOUTH EAST VISIT FORMER NAZI DEATH CAMP
Bexhill and Battle MP, Huw Merriman, and students from Heathfield Community College and Bexhill College returned from the Holocaust Educational Trust’s visit to the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland on 3rd November vowing to act on the lessons learned from the experience.
Now in its sixteenth year, the project is based on the premise that “hearing is not like seeing”. On the visit, students first visited Oświęcim, the town where the Nazi concentration and death camp was located and where, before the war, 58% of the population was Jewish. Students then visited Auschwitz to see the former camp’s barracks and crematoria and witnessed the piles of belongings that were seized by the Nazis. Finally, they spent time at the main killing centre of Birkenau where the day concluded with candle lighting and a period of reflection to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the other victims of Nazi persecution.
The visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau was preceded by a seminar in the UK where participants were introduced to Jewish life in Europe before the Second World War and heard the testimony of a Holocaust survivor.
The students will now become Ambassadors for the Holocaust Educational Trust and will undertake their ‘Next Steps’ to share their experience with their schools and the wider community. 'On the following day, the Ambassadors from Heathfield Community College joined Huw for an assembly and tutorial at their school to use the lessons from the concentration camps to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis and Huw's recent trip to the Syrian border.
Huw Merriman said “One cannot overstate the importance of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau and of recognising the full extent of the industrialised nature of the Holocaust. I look forward to seeing how the students will communicate their experience to their peers and their community. I hope that this will ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten and that its lessons are truly learnt, disseminated and acted upon.”
Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said “We are delighted that Huw joined us on the visit with students from his constituency. The Lessons from Auschwitz Project is a vital part of our work, allowing young people to learn about the Holocaust in a way they cannot in the classroom. The visit enables young people to see for themselves where racism, prejudice and antisemitism can ultimately lead and its importance is demonstrated by the inspiring work students go on to do in their local communities.”