Students joined by MPs on journey to Auschwitz

Diana Johnson, Nic Dakin, Andrew Percy, Fabian Hamilton, Meg Munn, Alec Shelbrooke, Craig Whittaker, Caroline Flint and Gerry Sutcliffe are guests on a Government-funded trip being organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

The project, now in its 14th year, is based on the premise that “hearing is not like seeing” and allows the students to explore the lessons of the Holocaust and its relevance today.

The party, including students from St Mary’s College and Hymers College in Hull, will pay their respects to those murdered by the Nazis and use their experience to educate others about the Holocaust.

Students will first visit Oswiecim, the Polish name for the town of Auschwitz, where Jews accounted for 58 per cent of the population before the Second World War. Now there are none – the last Jew to hail from the town died in 2001 and its synagogue is now a museum.

They will then visit Auschwitz I to see the former camp’s barracks and crematoriums and the piles of belongings that were seized by the Nazis.

The trip will conclude at the main killing centre of Birkenau, where they will light candles and pause for a period of reflection to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the other victims of Nazi persecution.

Hull MP Diana Johnson said: “One cannot overstate the importance of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau and of appreciating the full extent of the industrialised nature of the Nazi Holocaust.

“These events may have taken place 70 years ago during the war against Hitler’s regime in Germany, but we need to continue to teach the lessons of the Holocaust to younger generations in order to fight bigotry, hatred and the ignorance behind it.

“I look forward to seeing how the students from Hull can pass on their experience to friends. I hope that this will ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten and that its lessons are learnt.”

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the trust, added: “The project is such a vital part of our work because it allows young people to learn about the Holocaust in a way they cannot in the classroom.

“The Holocaust was a defining episode in history, and this visit enables young people to see for themselves where racism, prejudice and anti-semitism can ultimately lead.”