Recently, a group of sixth form students joined thousands of pupils across the UK in taking part in the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme, marking a huge milestone for the initiative. With this most recent visit, over 20,000 students and teachers have now participated in the Trust’s transformative educational journey to the site of the former Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

Now in its fourteenth year, the Lessons from Auschwitz project aims to educate post-16 students and teachers about the Holocaust through a powerful combination of historical context, personal testimony, and direct experience. The programme is based on the belief that “hearing is not like seeing” and uses immersive, first-hand encounters to bring the reality of the Holocaust to life in ways that classroom learning alone can't. 

The four-part course begins with an orientation seminar focusing on Jewish life in Europe before the Second World War. This foundation provides context, helping students understand the lively and diverse communities that were devastated by the Holocaust. The seminar also features the testimony of a Holocaust survivor, offering a deeply personal perspective on events that are too often reduced to statistics. 

Following this, students travel to Poland, where they visit the town of Oświęcim—known today as the site of Auschwitz, but once a thriving community in which 58% of the population was Jewish before the war. The visit to the Auschwitz camp introduces participants to the harrowing conditions faced. There, they witness the preserved barracks and haunting displays of seized belongings, including piles of shoes, suitcases, glasses, and human hair. These serve as a stark reminder of the individuals behind the numbers. 

The visit continues at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the main site of the mass killings. Students walk through the infamous railway gates, stand on the ramp where selections were made, and visit the ruins of the gas chambers and crematorium. The day ends with a candle-lighting ceremony and a period of quiet reflection, honouring the memory of the millions who were unjustly killed. 

Our A Level History lecturer, Katie Moran, who accompanied four students on this recent trip described the experience as “emotional and sobering.” She added: 

“Walking through the gates of Auschwitz, standing on the ground where over a million lives were taken, and witnessing the remains of Birkenau was an emotional and sobering experience that words can barely capture. Seeing the piles of shoes, suitcases, and hair made the scale of the Holocaust feel devastatingly real. It was a stark reminder of the human stories behind the statistics we often teach in the classroom.” 

The students showed maturity and empathy. For them, the visit was not only about understanding the past but also about learning the responsibility that comes with remembrance. By confronting the atrocities of the Holocaust, they are now better equipped to challenge antisemitism, racism, and all forms of hatred in today’s world. 

Interested in our A Level History course? Explore not only History, but other A Levels we have to offer here. 

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