Trip to Auschwitz 2015
Nicole and Abbie
Holocaust Awareness Week

27th of January marks the liberation of the
largest Nazi-camp of Auschwitz Birkenau, and we
use this week to fully reflect on the events that
occurred and to remember not only the 6 million
Jews that were murdered throughout the
Holocaust, but also the countless others whom
were victims of Nazi persecution.
What it entails…

First you attend a seminar in Newcastle in which you hear
about testimony from a survivor and start to think about
what the trip will be like- as well as meeting everyone
else from the programme.

Then you go on the actual trip about 2 weeks after the
seminar.

Then once you return, you go to a reflection seminar in
which you talk about how you found the trip, if it was how
you expected it would be and then decide on how to do
your ‘next steps’
The trip – Auschwitz one
This is a shot from
between buildings in
the first part of
Auschwitz one. It was
between the hospital
building where
Mengele was often
situated.
Here we saw people laying down
flowers and memorial candles as
well as messages for the dead
who died here. This is known as
the ‘wall of death’.
The trip – Auschwitz one
This is a picture from inside
one of the remaining gas
chambers which were actually
used for the murder of Jews
and people from other
backgrounds.
It was quite incongruous to
see a swimming pool at
Auschwitz just outside one
of the concrete barrack
buildings.
The trip – Auschwitz Birkenau (Auschwitz
two)
Here is the train track just in
front of the gates of the camp
where the people were brought
in cattle trucks to their deaths.
The sun was starting to set
at this point in the trip but
this picture of the barracks
just shows the extensive
size of the camp.
The trip – Auschwitz Birkenau (Auschwitz
two)
An authentic cattle
transport cart that was
used during the
holocaust and had been
restored.
The iconic front of the camp where the cattle
trucks made their last stop.
The trip – Auschwitz Birkenau (Auschwitz
two)
Another image which can’t
even truly convey the size of
the actual camp, it was as if
this road never ended.
This one also shows four
destroyed gas chambers
which would have fit
2,000 people at max
capacity during its time in
operation.
The trip – Auschwitz Birkenau (Auschwitz
two)
This was the last part of
the trip where we saw
the underground gas
chamber system that
was destroyed by the
Nazi’s shortly before
liberation as they knew
they were going to lose
the war.
The trip – Auschwitz Birkenau (Auschwitz
two)
We were all given Jewish memorial candles and
placed them in front of the remains of these
chambers shortly after a service from a Rabbi.
The Impact
A whole corridor of
shoes in glass cases on
either side.
Baby’s
clothes and
toys
The tangled mess of
glasses, approx.
hundreds of pairs in
this one pile.
“
For the dead and the living, we
must bear witness
Elie Wiesel
”
However…

There has been a lot in the news recently and
on pages such as Facebook with comments
about the Syrian refugees and people’s
attitudes towards them.

So recently there’s been a bit of speculation
about the painting of the doors on houses
assigned to the refugees, because there are
reports that their doors are painted a different
colour to the other houses to show a refugee
lives there.