Educational project makes Holocaust real

THE HOLOCAUST Educational Trust's Lessons from Auschwitz Project is now in its 10th year.

The seminars and trip to the former Nazi death camp in Poland are based on the premise that "hearing is not like seeing".

More than 5,000 students and teachers from the UK have been taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau since the project's inception.

Students attend a seminar the week before the trip, where they hear testimony from a survivor of the camp and one afterwards, where they discuss their personal responses to it.

The project also requires students to pass on what they learned to their schools and the wider community.

The trust itself was established in 1988 with the aim of educating young people from every ethnic background about the Holocaust and the lessons to be learned from it.

The group is also involved in training teachers how best to teach the Holocaust and has won three years' funding from the treasury.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "The Lessons from Auschwitz Project is such a vital part of our work because it gives students the chance to understand the dangers and potential effects of prejudice and racism today.

"The inspiring work students go on to do in their local areas demonstrates the importance of the visit.

"With the support of recent Government funding, we are delighted to be expanding the programme to reach students across the country."