‘It’s important the ghosts of the past aren’t forgotten’
STUDENTS from the Cynon Valley have spoken about how they were profoundly affected when they paid an emotional visit to Auschwitz concentration camp.
Sixth formers Carwyn Davies and Rebecca Jones, from Aberdare Community School, and Morgan Dove and Abigail Williams, from Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, made the journey to the camp as part of a scheme run by the Holocaust Educational Trust and funded by Parliament at Westminster.
With the aid of a tour guide and the use of audio-visual media, the Ambassadors to Auschwitz joined other youngsters from numerous UK schools also included in the project.
The pupils recall observing the lasting effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish graveyard of Oswiecim town, Poland, as well as the infamous room of Jewish memorabilia at Auschwitz I, which Carwyn, 17, said was ‘one of the most hard-hitting features of Auschwitz.’
The trip enabled the pupils to experience firsthand the sheer scale of what happened at the Nazi concentration camps in German-occupied Poland almost 75 years ago.
Carwyn said “The prisoner crematoriums and gallows emphasised to us that this whole place was just one humongous slaughter house. There were instruments of death everywhere.”
Shocked by the size of Auschwitz, he added: “The visit was a phenomenal experience and re- ally did re-humanise the Holocaust. I personally gained something.”
Rebecca Jones, 17, was also deeply touched by the trip.
She said: “Imagine if you had been there at the time, it could have been your mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter or any other family member who were ripped out of your life in an unspeakable way.”
The Lessons from Auschwitz Project, part of the Holocaust Educational Trust founded in 1988, intends to raise awareness and understanding of the tragedy, and aims to motivate future generations to speak out against intolerance.
Carwyn added: “It is important that other people get the opportunity to do the same and the ghosts of the past are not forgotten.”