In mid-February, I was lucky enough to attend a history trip to Poland. On our first day in Krakow, we visited the picturesque square in the town centre, exploring by ourselves which allowed us to get to know some local dishes, such as pierogi (filled dumplings) and meet some residents. Later that day, our wonderful tour guide Murray took us to visit thought-provoking sites around the city including Oskar Schindler’s factory, the Ghettos and the Galicia museum. The museum was really interesting as it showed a photographic history of Jewish experiences during the Second World War. To end our day, we were lucky enough to hear from a Holocaust survivor, Lidia. Her story was eye-opening because it is so important to be able to pass down the memories of people who had to experience this event in real life. 

The second day of our trip was really important and it is something that none of us will ever forget. We visited both Auschwitz sites starting with Auschwitz One, which is made up of a number of exhibitions displaying different aspects of life in the camp. One of the exhibitions featured a book containing the names of every prisoner at Auschwitz. It was quite difficult to comprehend some of the things that we saw there but I am really glad that we had the opportunity to visit this important historic place. Auschwitz Two was all outdoors, and it gave us more of an insight into what day-to-day life must have been like for people who were forced to live there. Throughout the day we had a tour guide whose knowledge put a lot of what we saw into context and made it much easier to visualise. 

I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to visit such an impactful place, where I learnt so much about the lives of Jewish people during the Second World War. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone interested in the history of WW2 and Poland. 

Written by Issy, Year 10