Ayr pupils visit Nazi death camp

Oct 24 2008 by Michael Pringle

THE true horror of the Holocaust was brought home to pupils from two Ayr schools this week.

History books were put aside as pupils from Ayr Academy and Kyle Academy travelled to Poland as guests of the Holocaust Educational Trust to experience for themselves the reality of the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

I joined more than 200 pupils and teachers from schools and colleges in Scotland as they flew to Krakow to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz programme.

Arriving at Glasgow Airport at 5am for our flight, most of the pupils were chatty and in good spirits. I spoke to a few of them and found them to have a good understanding of the atrocities committed by the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Second World War.

Having visited another concentration camp in northern Germany a few years back, I felt relatively well prepared for the day’s events.

When we arrived in Poland a bus journey of just over an hour took us to Auschwitz.

Our first stop was to a Jewish cemetery in the small neighbouring town of Oswiecim. Prior to the war the town had a Jewish population of over 7000, more than half of the population. At the end of the war only 125 of them remained.

The complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau is actually made up of three different camps. Auschwitz I was the concentration camp where inmates were forced to work in extremely harsh conditions, Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was the death camp where over a million people were exterminated.

Auschwitz I is now a museum and as we approached there was a sense of apprehension of what was in store for us as we looked at the gates emblazoned with the words “Arbeit Macht Frei” – the words translate as “works brings freedom”.

As we made our way through the barracks the extent of the horror that happened here just over 65 years ago began to unfold.

Behind glass cases in the cold dimly lit rooms were reminders of the reality of the mass genocide.

Mountains of hair from thousands of inmates was piled high. It had turned grey over the decades but many locks were still in pigtails.

There were mountains of spectacles, toothbrushes, walking sticks and suitcases with dates of birth of the owners still on them. Some were as young as three-years-old.

The most noticeable change in the mood of our group was the silence. Books and films don’t prepare you for the shock and disbelief that you feel.

We took the short coach trip to Auschwitz II – much of the camp remains intact. Many of the wooden huts have since gone but the gas chambers demolished by the Nazis near the end of the war lie as they fell in 1945. The rail line from Auschwitz I runs to the unloading platform where inmates were instantly condemned to death.

We entered the small wooden huts which each held more than 700 inmates and witnessed the cramped living conditions and the communal toilet blocks. No one in our group said much, they didn’t have to.

There was a short service with a rabbi to commemorate those who had perished, before everyone present lit candles and placed them along the rail line that had brought so many to their final destination.

It was a moving experience and a fitting end to a highly emotional visit.

Watch video footage of the visit by clicking on the movie icon to the right of this story.