Never forget the Holocaust
Pupils humbled by Auschwitz visit
Two Trinity High pupils were left humbled by a trip to Auschwitz Birkenau.
Sixth year students Olivia McLaren and Nathan McGarvey were joined by other Scottish pupils on a special trip to Poland at the end of last month.
Auschwitz Birkenau was part of the wider Auschwitz network of Na z i concentration and extermination camps during the Second World War.
It was a key part of the Nazi’s ‘final solution’ which saw six million Jews and five million others murdered.
One in six Jews killed in the Holocaust died at Auschwitz along with Poles, Romani gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals and other diverse nationalities and religions.
Many of them were gassed in the massive chambers.
Olivia and Nathan were there as part of the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day in January, which will have the theme ‘how can life go on?’
Both pupils are focussed on ensuring the lessons they learned from their visit are shared with the wider community. Olivia said: “It was an overwhelming experience to visit both camps and I was very moved by the photographs along the walls in Birkenau Camp One which gave the names of the people, their dates of birth, the dates they entered the camp and the date they were murdered. This personalised the experience for me as the figure of over two million murdered in Auschwitz alone is difficult to comprehend.
“With each of the faces pictured I felt a personal empathy and it has made me all the more determined to share our experience of the visit with the rest of Trinity pupils and also with our associated primaries in the coming months ahead.”
Nathan added: “The images of Jewish people and their lives before the Nazis showed families enjoying life and made it a much more personal experience.
“It was also very sobering to realise the breadth of victims of Nazi persecution.
“From political opponents to religious adherents and to those of the Romani and Sinti community who also suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
“Olivia and I will decide very shortly the focus and nature of our presentations to ensure that those in our community we speak with will gain, at the very least, a deeper understanding of the effects of Nazi persecution and the hope that this horrendous event is never repeated.”