70 years ago on the 27th January 1945 Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Red Army, this day marks “the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp”.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is the charity that promotes and supports Holocaust Memorial Day. The Holocaust Memorial Day has taken place since 2001 in the United Kingdom which played a leading role in establishing Holocaust Memorial Day as an international day of commemoration in 2000.  This year The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has launched a campaign to ‘Keep the Memory Alive’ where stories of survivors are shared using the hashtag #MemoryMakers. This is essential to prevent something like this from repeating itself. The Holocaust Memorial Day is a good way of making sure this devastating event, and the 6 million lives which were lost, will forever be remembered.

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After years of the Holocaust survivors rebuilding their lives and trying to forget about what happened to them, some have decided to talk about it openly. Holocaust survivor Janine Webber would have nightmares of the ‘big black Nazi boots’ for years after liberation. Janine decided to talk to people about what happened to her, and then she finally stopped dreaming about those Nazi boots! To see her story click the link here

Your Local Guardian: Janine Webber giving accounts of her experience - Photograph credit: ‘The Enquirer’ Janine Webber giving accounts of her experience - Photograph credit: ‘The Enquirer’

In light of the Holocaust Memorial Day, Esher College held a lunchtime History Extra session on Wednesday 23rd January. Two 6.2 students (Polly Henshaw and Georgia Allistone) shared their experiences when they went on a day trip to visit the Auschwitz extermination camp in November 2014 with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Your Local Guardian: The Jewish graveyard (Oswiecim) Photograph credit: Polly Henshaw The Jewish graveyard (Oswiecim) Photograph credit: Polly Henshaw

Before the trip Polly and Georgia heard from Susan Pollack, a survivor from Auschwitz, who told them her story. They learnt that Jews had been persecuted and victimized long before Hitler. On the 12th November 2014 Georgia and Polly flew to Krawkow in Poland. They visited a Jewish graveyard in Oswiecim, Auschwitz I and then Auschwitz Birkenau. Following the trip after reflecting on what she saw Polly said that “I couldn’t really believe that people were capable of committing such atrocious things, especially towards another human, and it sounds really odd, but it kind of feels emptying to reflect on what we saw. The devastating effect it had on so many people really emphasises the need we have now to work as a community to prevent something similar from happening again”.

Georgia described being at Auschwitz as “echoing the idea that ‘seeing is not like hearing’. Anybody can comprehend the Holocaust, and what transpired when we live miles away from the desolation Auschwitz caused, but when you are there one cannot escape the sheer horror of it.”

As many of us feel when reflecting upon the tragedy of the Holocaust we hope that we, as humans, would learn from this event. However clearly such lessons have not been recognized which is explicitly shown in the genocide of Sri Lanka, and Rwanda. But also today, current events such as “the rise of ISIS are a reminder that such prejudices continue to infect civilisation today” (Georgia)

Your Local Guardian: Photograph credit: Georgia AllistonePhotograph credit: Georgia Allistone

Auschwitz I is the smaller of the two camps, which has been transformed into a ‘museum like’ memorial. “It was difficult when faced with rooms containing personal possessions of those who were made prisoners here. Pots and pans were brought, showing that prisoners thought that to some extent, a normal way of life would continue here.” (Georgia)

To furthermore teach and reveal the true horrors of the Holocaust, Esher College are fortunate enough to have a Holocaust survivor come in to talk to A-Level History students. John Dobai will be coming into college on Friday 13th February to share his story with us.

Your Local Guardian: John Dobai speaking to students at Hereford College - Photograph credit: Hereford CollegeJohn Dobai speaking to students at Hereford College - Photograph credit: Hereford College

To find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day Trust visit their website here and check out their videos on YouTube that reminisce the stories of the Holocaust survivors.

By Mel Gerbeau, Esher College