A LETTER FROM OUR HEADTEACHER - MR I SMITH

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SIXTH FORM AUCHWITZ VISIT MARCH 2017 Have you ever experienced something that just requires silent reflection? I was privileged to be a part of this year’s “Lesson from Auschwitz” project as the teacher Ambassador for Etone College and our link to the Holocaust Education Trust. On a wet, cold Wednesday in March, I embarked on the life changing tour to the concentration and extermination camps in Auschwitz, Poland. Having listened to three Holocaust survivors’ testimonies of the horrific events that took place between 1941-1945 in these camps, I left Birmingham Airport filled with a mixture of emotions of what to expect. The tour initially took us to the town centre of Auschwitz and then on to Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz-Birkenau camps. The Town centre was only a short stop-off to gauge what pre-war life was like for the people who lived in this town and to reflect on photographic evidence of how this changed in September 1941. Some of the buildings at Auschwitz 1 have been converted into museums of artefacts from the early 1940’s. These artefacts ranged from maps, registration documents, and precious belongings to shoes, cooking pots and even the human hair that was so coarsely removed to de-humanise the people at the Auschwitz camp. The part of the memorial at Auschwitz 1 that ‘hit home’ most was the vast scale and degrading life bestowed on these people. Seeing the mountains of human hair, of which there was nearly 2 tonnes, showed just how many men, women and girls perished during this period of genocide. At Auschwitz 1, we walked through the famous gates which bare the words ‘Work sets you free’. These are known as the gates of hell. 16
SIXTH FORM AUCHWITZ VISIT MARCH 2017 From Auschwitz 1, we went on the short journey to the bigger, purpose built/designed factory of death at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Here, the site of the extended train tracks, bombed gas chambers and vast fields of living shelters instilled clarity to the numbers of people who perished at the hands of the Nazi SS guards and their perpetrators. At Auschwitz-Birkenau it is estimated that 1.2 million (MILLION) people were murdered. ambassadors have been tasked with producing work that helps the pupils and students at Etone College to remember and reflect the events of 1941-1945 at Auschwitz and across Europe throughout WW2. Please take time to speak to the ambassadors and ask questions of their experiences. The two student ambassadors (Rhiannon Simpson and Kyle Hawes) were fantastically respectful and reflective throughout the visit. Kyle impressed so much at the pre-visit seminar that he was asked to read at the concluding service. This is a great honour and one that Kyle will never forget, and one that gives recognition to the amazing students we have in our Sixth Form. I am looking forward to sharing the remainder of our visit through assemblies during the next academic year. The student I plan to return to Auschwitz in a few years’ time to take all the information I have, and can gather from further readings and survivor testimonies, so that I can attempt to comprehend the enormity of all of the events that took place. Thank you Mr Mitchell 17
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A LETTER FROM OUR HEADTEACHER - MR I SMITH

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