Coombeshead Academy Newsletter - Issue 58

YEAR 12 AUSCHWITZ TRIP
SIXTH FORM
At 5am on Wednesday 1 st March, Charlie Aldridge, John
Edwards and myself all arrived at Exeter airport ready for a
life changing trip. We were part of over 200 post 16
students and teachers who attended the trip ran by the
Holocaust Educational Trust. The aim of the project is to
educate young people about the Holocaust so they are
able to share their experiences with others. It is vital work
as we must not forget about the mass genocide that killed
six million people between the years of 1941-1945.
CHRISTOW
There are four stages to the project.
Firstly a thought-provoking talk from a Holocaust survivor
during a seminar held in Exeter.
Secondly, the 24-hour trip to Auschwitz to Poland. A
couple of days after our trip we met again to talk about
what we had experienced.
Then finally, Charlie and John have been tasked with sharing their experience with students at Coombeshead
Academy.
During the trip itself we stopped at three locations.
Firstly, Oświęcim, a small town just an hour from Kraków airport. We stopped here to experience pre-war
Jewish life. We saw the market square, the town hall and the brightly coloured houses that Jewish families
would have lived in. It put into context how similar their lives would have been to ours before the war began.
We then travelled to Auschwitz I. This was predominantly a work camp where Jews were sent to work until
they were too ill to carry on. We passed under the well-known gate that read ‘Arbeit macht frei’, when
translated this means ‘work will set you free’. Unfortunately, those who could not work anymore were sent to
the gas chambers. During our visit to Auschwitz I we saw many exhibits, such as displays of possessions that
were taken from the Jews and photos of those who would have been incarcerated there. As we walked
around there was an eerie silence.
Our final stop was Birkenau, this was one of the death
camps. It is hard to explain how large Birkenau is, however,
to put it into some context, it took us twenty minutes to walk
the width of the camp. During our tour, we walked the
length of the railway where Jewish families would have
been unloaded from the cattle carts and sorted into men
and women. We saw where they would have slept, washed
and worked. All of these experiences were very distressing.
At the end of the day we had a poignant memorial service
at the ruins of Crematoria II, poems were read and prayers
were said. As we departed, we left lit candles along the
railway track as a sign of remembrance.
This is only a section of the memories that we
will take from the trip. The experiences we had
that day are unforgettable, they will stay with
us for the rest of our lives. Charlie and John are
now working on how they are going to share
their experiences, so look out for displays and
assemblies happening throughout the school.
Miss Hunt
Coombeshead Academy, Coombeshead Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 1PT Tel: 01626 201800 Email: welcome@coombesheadacademy.org.uk