MP for Newcastle North, Catherine McKinnell, has this week joined almost 200 young people from across the North East on a day visit to Poland, organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust as part of the charity’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project.

The delegation from the region – including students from Gosforth Academy, Walbottle Campus and Studio West in Newcastle North, as well as the MP for Redcar, Anna Turley – flew in the early hours of yesterday from Newcastle Airport to Kraków, to embark on a life-changing experience.

auschwitz-birkenau-het-visit-3On arrival in Poland, the group’s tour started with a visit to a site in Oświęcim, to hear more about pre-war Jewish life in the town, before moving on to Auschwitz I, the main camp in Oświęcim.

The North East delegation then travelled to Auschwitz II-Birkenau – the largest of the more than 40 Nazi camps and sub-camps that made up the Auschwitz complex.

Approximately one million people died in Birkenau, over nine out of ten of whom were Jewish. A large proportion of the more than 70,000 Poles who died or were killed in the Auschwitz complex perished in Birkenau, as did around 20,000 Gypsies, as well as Soviet prisoners of war and prisoners of other nationalities.

Yesterday’s visit concluded with a memorial service, and the laying of candles on the rail tracks under the arrival tower at Birkenau.

auschwitz-birkenau-het-visit-1Following the visit, Catherine said:

‘This was an incredibly moving and challenging visit – made all the more powerful by the presence of so many young people from across Newcastle and the North East.

‘Of course, it was also a timely reminder of the dangers of intolerance, of losing mutual respect for others and of hating those who appear ‘different’ – and where that can ultimately lead. Too often, we hear people saying the Holocaust must never – and could never – happen again. Yet, people around the world are still being persecuted and killed for their beliefs, or because of who they are.

‘Importantly our visit didn’t just focus on the inhumane, cruel and unimaginable crimes of those responsible – it was also about commemorating the lives of those who perished in the Nazi concentration camps. They were people loved by family and friends, not just numbers, and yesterday emphasised the need to rehumanise the images of shaven heads and starvation usually associated with Auschwitz-Birkenau.

‘It was also a reminder to celebrate life and the freedoms we enjoy, every day.’

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