|
Member of Parliament for Bradford East@DavidWardMP on Twitter and Facebook |
 |
David Ward MP <>
MP joins Bradford students on Auschwitz visit
March 14, 2011 10:00 AM
David Ward MP joined students from Hanson School, Immanuel College and Dixons City Academy Charitable Trust on a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps this week. 
The visit was a unique opportunity to see what happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau, to pay respect to those who lost their lives, and to explore the universal lessons of the Holocaust. The group was shown around the camp's barracks and crematoria, and witnessed the registration documents of inmates, piles of hair, shoes, clothes and other items seized by the Nazis. They were then taken the short distance to Birkenau where a memorial and candle-lighting service was held to remember the 6 million Jews, and the Roma, Sinti, gay, disabled, black people, and other victims of the Nazis killed in the Holocaust.
The students will now use their experiences to educate others about the Holocaust at their schools and in their local communities. On Sunday 20th March, the pupils will attend a follow-up seminar at the Hilton Leeds City Hotel to discuss their experiences and the impact the visit had on them.
Commenting, David Ward said:
"The importance of visiting Auschwitz cannot be underestimated. These events may have taken place 60 years ago but the lessons learnt apply today.
Younger generations need to understand the Holocaust if we are going to fight bigotry and hatred in today's world.
I look forward to seeing how the students communicate their experience with others. Seeing it first hand is far more powerful than reading about it."
Commenting, Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said:
"We are delighted that David Ward joined us on the visit with students from his constituency. The Holocaust Educational Trust's Lessons from Auschwitz Project is such a vital part of our work because it not only gives students the chance to learn about the Holocaust but to understand the dangers and potential effects of prejudice and racism today on a local and national scale."