Auschwitz - the most potent symbol of the horror of the Nazis' Final Solution. GLYNN GARLICK pays a harrowing visit to the extermination camp in Poland.



WITH the festive season not long finished, the winter weather reminds us in Britain of family gatherings and parties in cosy pubs.

But at Auschwitz it makes visitors even more aware of the suffering its prisoners went through during the Second World War.

Hidden photos of prisoners found there after it was liberated are now on show at the camp and emphasise each person there was an individual.

There have been countless films, TV series, books and articles about the most notorious death camp of them all.

However, only by visiting Auschwitz can people really appreciate the enormity of what happened there.

The site is vast, particularly Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, the main death camp.

Auschwitz I was a concentration camp and not originally set up with the aim of committing genocide.

Birkenau was a factory, but its aim was extermination rather than building cars or making TVs. It murdered on an industrial scale.

It is estimated between 1.1 million and 1.5 million people died at Auschwitz, mostly in the gas chambers.

Most were Jews but political prisoners, PoWs, gipsies and other groups targeted by the Nazis were also murdered there.

Some survived and were able to tell the world the truth about what happened.

Visiting the camp allows people to see the conditions prisoners endured.

While the weather in Poland was fine to start with, it worsened as the day went on.

It was raining, but this did not make the weather any milder, as it does in Britain.

Instead, it was bitterly cold and made the visit even more grim.

This added to the impact of seeing the camp, with its sheer scale and the awful exhibits highlighting what went on and emphasising the suffering.

There were cabinets full of things such as human hair, false limbs, suitcases and shoes.

And there was emphasis on how the railway system allowed the Nazis to transport people from all over Europe straight to the camp and into the gas chambers.

The visit certainly had an impact on the 150 teenagers from schools across London on a one-day trip to the camp.

These included 18 students from Lewisham and Greenwich.

Daniel Blanchard, a 17-year-old pupil at Colfe's School, Horn Park Lane, Lee, said: "By doing it in one day, it gives more people the chance to see Auschwitz. It is a worthwhile experience."

His schoolmate, Jonathan Nicolson, 17, said: "It gives you some perspective and the chance to learn from mistakes of the past."

The trip was organised by char-ity the Holocaust Educational Trust, which has been given £1.5m by the Government to support its Lessons From Auschwitz project for teachers and sixth formers.

Schools minister Jim Knight was on the trip to see the camp for himself.

The project also includes seminars before and after the visit to allow students to share their thoughts on Auschwitz and how the ideas which led to its creation still exist today.

They then have the chance to share their experiences with fellow pupils at their schools.

Richard Burns, 17, who attends Christ the King Sixth Form College, Belmont Grove, Lewisham, said: "The trip was cold and wet and muddy, and that made it more depressing.

"The Germans did it efficiently, which makes it worse."

He added: "The extra seminars are quite important. You get more understanding about the human cost of Auschwitz."

For some pupils, the horror of what they saw and their thoughts for the victims only sunk in afterwards.

Flora McLean, 17, who attends Prendergast School, Hilly Fields, Adelaide Avenue, Brockley, said: "The following day was really emotional. I kept crying a lot.

"I had to go to school in the afternoon and found it difficult to talk to people who hadn't been.

"They were just talking about their usual problems."

Her 18-year-old friend, Hannah Brewer, said: "It makes you really appreciate everything.

"When I got home and saw the photographs of my family, it made me think the victims were just people, like us."

Most of the people in the hidden pictures found at the camp were not so lucky. They did not survive Auschwitz.