Two history students shared a thought-provoking trip to concentration camps in Poland where they heard from a survivor who recounted the atrocities she was put through.

Megan Glover, from Falmouth, and Maisie Wills, from Redruth, took part in the Holocaust Education Trust’s (HET) Lessons from Auschwitz project. They were invited to hear the testimony of Mala Tribich, a survivor of Ravebsbrück concentration camp, while also visiting Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau to learn more about what occurred in Nazi Europe.

The HET works with thousands of young adults across the UK, ensuring that they are taught about the Holocaust, providing visits to Auschwitz for two students from every college or sixth form.

Maisie said: “Visiting the camps makes the events ‘real.’ They were always ‘real’ in the sense that they happened but visiting the sites shows you that individuals were affected, not just a number.

“In Auschwitz 1 there is a room filled completely with shoes of the victims and another filled with woman’s hair, which was cut off during their time at the camps. These rooms affected me the most during the visit, as it is real evidence that it was individuals who were killed and parts of them still live on.”

Megan agreed, adding that meeting Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich was hugely eye-opening. “Although I had read her story beforehand- it was much more impactful hearing her face to face," she said. "Then realising the sheer scale of Auschwitz I and Birkenau by seeing the mountains of possessions on display along with the rows of barracks that seemed to stretch on for miles.

“I felt truly moved as each of the hundreds of thousands of people who had suffered there and in other camps all had tragic stories similar to Mala’s, some of which we will never know.”

The Lessons from Auschwitz’ project encourages students to explore the relevance that the Holocaust still has today, and highlight what can happen when people tolerate discrimination in society.

Megan and Maisie felt that the trip reminded them that the victims of the Holocaust are not just a statistic, but individuals, each with an equally terrifying story. Maisie said after the trip: “Despite the harrowing nature of what you see at both camps, I left with a sense of motivation; I wanted to do something to stop these kind of events repeating themselves.”