Students share their learning from visit to Auschwitz

3rd May 2023 – Tags: A Levels, History

Two A Level students from Paston College have been sharing powerful lessons from history, after completing the Holocaust Education Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ course. 

Daisy Lewin and Thomas Dawson took part in online seminars, heard from Holocaust survivors, and joined students from schools and colleges across East Anglia on a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland. 

One of the key outcomes from the course sees participants sharing what they have learnt with their peers. Daisy and Thomas have done this through an informative and thought-provoking presentation (see video link at the top of this page). 

Paston College students Thomas Dawson and Daisy Lewin.

Reflecting on the experience of visiting Auschwitz, Thomas comments: 

It was really worthwhile. I was so glad I went. Just being there, at the actual location where all of the horrors you hear about happened, was quite meaningful and harrowing at the same time. I think what blew me away was the scale of both camps, especially Auschwitz 2, and just how organised everything was.”  

Daisy says that lessons from the Holocaust remain hugely important and relevant to this day: 

I think it’s very relevant for antisemitism, which is definitely still a major issue today. It’s very easy to forget everything that happened during the Holocaust and how everything starts with prejudice. It didn’t start with the deaths of 6 million people. It started with prejudice and discrimination, singling people out and treating them differently.”    

The pair are the latest in a long line of Paston College students to take up the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust through HET. On completion of the Lessons from Auschwitz course, all students become HET Ambassadors. 

A Level History teacher Kat Wright adds:   

The Holocaust Education Trust plays a vital role in keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive and enabling us to learn from the past. It is an incredible opportunity and one we will be encouraging our students to take up again next year.  

 

Thomas and Daisy have shown great empathy, maturity and understanding when dealing with a difficult and upsetting topic. They have both worked incredibly hard to produce their project and been an absolute credit to Paston College.”