Mark Pawsey MP and students from Rugby High School returned from the Holocaust Educational Trust’s visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau on Wednesday 21st March vowing to act on the lessons learned from the experience.   Mark joined more than 200 other post-16 students from around the West Midlands on the Project, a unique opportunity to learn about what happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau, to pay respect to those who lost their lives, and to explore the universal lessons of the Holocaust and its relevance for today.  The students will now use the experience to commemorate and educate others about the Holocaust at their schools and in their local communities.
 
Now in its thirteenth year, the Project is based on the premise that “hearing is not like seeing”. Students first visited Osweicim, the town where the Auschwitz death and concentration camps were located and where before the war, 58% of the population was Jewish. Students then visited Auschwitz I to see the former camp’s barracks and crematoria and witnessing 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, and the Roma, Sinti, gay, disabled, black people, and other victims of the Nazis killed in the Holocaust.
 
Mark commented:
 
“I cannot underestimate the importance of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau and recognising the full extent of the industrialised nature of the Holocaust. These events may have taken place over 60 years ago but as our society bears witness, we need to continue to teach the lessons of the Holocaust to the younger generations in order to fight bigotry and hatred today.”
 
He continued:
 
“Following the visit, I look forward to seeing how the students from Rugby High School communicate their experience to their peers and am encouraged that many more students will have the opportunity to participate in the course in future years. I hope that this will ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten and that its lessons are truly learnt, disseminated and acted upon.” 
 
He concluded:
 
“More recently I have seen evidence of genocide taking place in the African Continent on my visits to Rwanda.  Having now been to Auschwitz and developed an understanding of the massive scale of atrocities committed by the Nazis in the 1940s, I can appreciate how important it is to retain awareness of these dreadful events in history.”
 
Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said:
 
“We are delighted that Mark Pawsey MP joined us on the visit with students from his constituency. The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project is such a vital part of our work because it not only gives students the chance to learn about the Holocaust but to understand the dangers and potential effects of prejudice and racism today on a local and national scale.”

The Holocaust Educational Trust
The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) was established in 1988 to educate young people from every ethnic background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today. HET works in schools, universities and in the community to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust, providing teacher training, an Outreach Programme for schools, teaching aids and resource materials. Among HET’s earliest achievements was ensuring that the Holocaust formed part of the National Curriculum for History. HET also played a crucial role in the establishment of Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK and continues to play a key role in the delivery of this national commemorative event.
 
Lessons from Auschwitz Project
The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project for teachers and sixth-form students is now in its thirteenth year. The course is run over three non consecutive days with the focus being a one-day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The visits, combined with orientation and follow-up seminars, leave an unforgettable emotional and educational mark on participants. The Projects aim to increase knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust based on the premise that ‘seeing is better than hearing’ and to signal what can happen if prejudice and racism become acceptable.
 
Since the Projects’ inception in 1998, HET has taken over 16,000 students and teachers from across the UK to Auschwitz-Birkenau, as well as many MPs and other high profile individuals.
In 2005 the Treasury announced funding for the Lessons from Auschwitz Project, providing £1.5 million to enable two students from every school and college in the UK to participate. Since 2008 funding has been provided by the Department for Education (formerly the Department for Children, Schools and Families) in England and by the Scottish and Welsh administrations. This funding was renewed in 2011.
 
ORIENTATION SEMINAR
Participants are given the opportunity to hear a Survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau share their testimony at the orientation seminar. During the seminar participants are divided into small groups which are facilitated by a HET educator. The participants remain in these groups throughout the Project. Each group discusses their reasons for taking part in the Project, their expectations, preconceptions and the potential impact that the visit may have on them. It also provides a useful opportunity for participants to get to know each other before they share what for many is a very moving and important life experience.
 
VISIT TO AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
During the visit itself, students are first taken to Osweicim, the small town next to Auschwitz death and concentration camp where the local Jewish community lived prior to the start of the Second World War. The groups are then shown several barracks at Auschwitz I – registration documents of inmates, piles of hair, shoes, clothes and other items seized from the prisoners as they entered the camps. Participants are then taken the short distance to Birkenau. This is the site that most people associate with the word “Auschwitz” and where the vast majority of victims were murdered. The remnants of barracks, crematoria and gas chambers are in stark contrast to Auschwitz I and many people feel this has a greater impact on them. The tour of Birkenau culminates in a memorable ceremony held next to the destroyed crematoria II. The ceremony includes readings, a moment of reflection and ends with all participants lighting memorial candles and placing them around the remains of the crematoria.
 
FOLLOW-UP SEMINAR
At the follow-up seminar participants discuss the visit, their personal responses and the impact it had on them. The seminar is very important for participants, as often visitors to Auschwitz have a delayed reaction to the experience and many find it difficult to speak to those who have not been there.
All student participants are required to disseminate what they have learned to their school and wider communities. Teachers and students describe it as life changing.
 
For further information about the Holocaust Educational Trust, please visit their website www.het.org.uk