A LETTER FROM OUR HEADTEACHER - MR I SMITH

SIXTH FORM
AUCHWITZ VISIT - STUDENT REFLECTION
Kyle Hawes
We’re all taught about the Holocaust throughout
our education, however, it is very different to
experience the location of the atrocity. Auschwitz is
a well-known location for terrible reasons as the
extermination camp with the capability of wiping out
a whole race.
My trip started out with a 5AM check in at
Birmingham Airport for a 2-hour flight to Krakow in
Poland. From Krakow we took a coach trip to the
town of Oswiecim, which was renamed Auschwitz
by the Nazis before World War Two and then later
restored following the war. In Oswiecim we visited
the traditional market square, something very rare in
towns and villages now, to learn and understand
what life was like prior to World War Two. We
were shown and told how a variety of communities
were integrated in one town and what their daily life
would look like. We learnt how Priests and Rabi’s
would share a drink at festivals and how Jews would
dance around Christian statues during ceremonies.
Following this we then took the coach to Auschwitz
I to walk around the first site used for
extermination. It was a harrowing experience
realising the amount of lives systematically taken on
one site. I struggled to believe when people said that
birds stop singing when you enter, but everything
that’s said is true and the atmosphere truly changes
going through the registration building. I was
horrified to see rooms filled with hair, glasses, pots
and pans and everyday belongings that victims
brought along with them as they genuinely believe
they were going to start a better life. Hallways filled
with photos of the victims really hit home. Those
killed weren’t just a figure - they were all individual
people with different lives and families. We were
shown one victim, a mother, who arrived and was
murdered within a few weeks of arrival. We were
then shown the daughter of the victim who died
shortly after her mother. When asked how we felt,
no one could put into words the sadness, guilt, and
depressive nature we felt about the event. This had
an overwhelming impact on us all and I don’t think
any of us were fully prepared to comprehend the
reality of it all.
Following Auschwitz we travelled further from
Krakow to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the more iconic site
made known by Schindlers List. Walking through the
archway was a strange experience as no one is
prepared to witness the layout of the massive site.
Rows upon rows of wooden shacks designed to
house horses instead used as shelter for millions of
victims prior to extermination. We managed to hear
a Rabi give a passionate speech about the Holocaust
and furthermore our role now as ambassadors. The
Rabi’s passion really struck me as it made me realise
what is at risk if we do not go on educating people
about the Holocaust. Following the speech we took
the long, dull walk down towards the gas chambers.
On the way we got to see one of the original cattle
cars used to transport victims from various sites. It
is really striking witnessing first hand the size of the
cattle car and trying to comprehend how they could
fit so many victims in such a small space. We got to
view the untouched sites of the gas chambers that
are now in ruins as the SS Soldiers tried to cover up
the atrocities they had committed. We couldn’t
imagine how victims must have felt going inside in
large groups, having to undress, and then losing their
life one room later. After having a long talk about
the victims, evidence and stories told about the
chambers we moved on further to the most recent
building on the site. We gathered as a group and five
students, of which I was one, were asked to read out
a few poems from victims and survivors. In all, the
day was tiring and arduous, however it was nothing
compared to the horrors the victims of the
Holocaust went through.
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