THIRTY students from Tavistock College visited Poland and Germany this summer to extend their history curriculum and to develop a first-hand understanding of the consequences of the Holocaust.

The trip to Krakow and Berlin involved visiting the sites of concentration camps, historic buildings in Germany and the salt mines in Poland. Students were also treated to an amazing Jewish dinner with live music.

While in Berlin, the students moved from looking at the lives of the oppressed to those of the oppressors with a visit to the Wannsee Villa. It was in this seemingly idyllic setting where Heydrich called a meeting among senior Nazi members to discuss the plans for the ‘final solution’.

Students were very influenced by this experience.

Year 13 student Katya Church said: ‘Visiting Auschwitz One and Auschwitz-Birkenau was a deeply haunting and contemplative experience — one which we all felt would stay with us in different ways. For me personally, it was the brief displays of humanity in Auschwitz One which affected me most deeply; observing the piles of hair shaved off prisoners, the handwritten names on suitcases and the battered piles of shoes from children and adults alike was incredibly poignant.’

Samuel Chambers, Year 11, said: ‘I have had an unforgettable time in Krakow and Berlin, two wonderfully unique cities that share a tragic past. Our trips to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Sachanhaussen concentration camps were haunting and provided a way to comprehend the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, which I am lucky to have experienced.’

Year 12 student Weng Cheng Vooi said: ‘The trip was an experience I will never forget. I feel that this trip has changed the way I thought about the Holocaust and how it’s simply not just in the past but affects how the present is. I highly recommend going to such a trip to experience the impact of such an horrific event that cannot be taught in a book.’

Tavistock College is hoping to organise the visit again next year alongside other trips, including to Iceland for geography students, the USA for the sports tour, Japan for those studying Japanese and Venice for art students to name a few.