Lessons From Auschwitz

Every year the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) run a project called Lessons from Auschwitz. This project allows two students from each school to go to Poland for a day to visit the Auschwitz concentration camps.

On the 9th of November Mr O'Callaghan, Sophie Taylor and myself (Amy Malone) were at the airport for 4.30 in the morning to start our trip. We went to have an insight into how the Jews were treated at this time and what happened at the camps.

We visited the small town of Oświęcim first. This is where it all started; where the Jews were forced to leave their homes.

We then visited Auschwitz 1 where so much cruel and inhumane torture took place. Individual's belongings were on display; shoes, hair, pot, pans and bags. The last place we went was Auschwitz-Birkenau, where photos were used to commemorate pre-war Jewish life. We saw lots of terrible things that day.

Each person has a different reaction to the camp but for me I have changed how I word what I say, how I act towards people and my overall view of life. I never realised how much I don't appreciate the life I have.

Amy Malone