Sascha Lavin, Year 12, Benenden School
"As the plane landed at Krakow airport I felt sure that I could predict exactly how I would react during my one day visit to Auschwitz- with plenty of tears. Instead the opposite happened. I was numb throughout the whole journey and although I was stunned at the vastness of Auchwitz-Birkenau and distressed by the mountains of personal objects, I couldn't cry at all.
"Although we've heard about the atrocities carried out at Auschwitz again and again in our history lessons, being there makes everything more real. You come to understand that these stories and facts aren't just printed in your history textbook but actually happened, in the place where you are standing.
"And so I would definitely recommend visiting Auschwitz to other people my age. Perhaps if more people visited, there would be less hurt in the world: from bullying at school to war between countries. After giving this topic much thought after I returned home, I realised that although what happened there is so terrible, we should take positive lessons from it so that this can never happen again.
Being Jewish, I always thought that I had a link to those who died, but after going to Auschwitz I realised that none of us have a connection; but every person, no matter what race or religion, owes those 6 million who died the right of remembrance.
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