STUDENTS from Kingsmead School in Wiveliscombe learned about the horrors of Second World War concentration camps when they visited Auschwitz on a trip to Poland.

The 28 Year 11 youngsters, who are studying History and Religious Studies, spent three days in Krakow and also visited the Galicia Jewish Museum and discovered the Jewish quarter and old city of Krakow.

Student Joby Barlow said: “Our guide at the Galicia Museum explained the build up to the Holocaust and how the Jewish populace lived in Poland before Nazi occupation. We met a Holocaust survivor and were told of her journey through that time as a young girl. We all found her story fascinating and moving.

“Next day we visited both surviving Auschwitz camps – we were shown around the first camp by a knowledgeable guide who explained how the camp had been run. There were many artefacts, for example, the shoes which had been taken from Jews as they entered the camp. Auschwitz 2, the most famous one, was shocking – the size of it was massive. It was very hard to comprehend how about 1.1 million people were murdered in such a small area.”

Student Connie Woods Gundry said: “It was an eye-opening trip that shocked me – to walk through a part of history that you may have only heard about or read in a textbook is something that puts an incomprehensible event into reality.

“Meeting a holocaust survivor, you begin to question the reasoning behind what occurred, and begin to understand the experiences of others in more depth. You sense the brutality people faced and the emotional consequences. Studying History and RS, I learnt more about the effects this time had on Poland and the Jewish community, and gained an insight into Judaism.”