BRADFORD pupils have been urged to spread the word about one of human history’s darkest moments following a sobering visit to Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The trip was organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust, and involved hundreds of young people from across Yorkshire and the Humber flying out for a day long tour of the camp in Poland, where an estimated 1.1 million people were killed during the Second World War.

Pupils from Grange Technology College, Southfield School, Oastler School, Belle Vue Girls’ School, Bradford Girls’ Grammar School, Thornton Grammar School and Woodhouse Grove School were among the hundreds who took part in the visit to what was described to them as the “world’s biggest cemetery.”

After the event they were told how important it was to spread the message of the Holocaust, and the dangers of de-humanising groups of people.

Although the majority of the people who died at the camps were Jewish, the site was also the final home of tens of thousands of gypsies, political prisoners, Poles, homosexuals and others that the Nazi party deemed “undesirable.”

The students were just some of the thousands of people visiting the camps on Wednesday, taking in the awful details of what happened there over 70 years ago.

In total an estimated six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Auschwitz was established in 1940 at a former army barracks, and in 1942 it became a central part of the Holocaust, becoming the principal destination for the deportation of Jews.

The tour took in the two camps, including barracks were hundreds of people slept in cramped conditions, the room where new prisoners were stripped and had their hair shaved off, and the inside of one of the gas chambers where countless men, women and children were murdered.

The young people were shown photographs of skeletal children who had been subject to experiments by Josef Mengel, the “striped pyjamas” prisoners wore in all types of weather and one of the most powerful exhibits on the site, an exhibit of around 80,000 shoes plundered from prisoners.

There were similar exhibits showing huge piles of spectacles and children’s clothes.

Every part of the camp has a chilling atmosphere, from the infamous gates bearing the slogan Arbeit Mach Frei, meaning work sets you free, to the train lines that for hundreds of thousands of people signalled the final moments of their life.

Members of the trust told the young people that with the remaining survivors entering old age, it was up to young people like them to make sure the lessons of the Holocaust were kept alive for future generations to learn from.

The Polish tour guide showing one of the groups around gave the historic background to the Holocaust. He said: “The Holocaust was successful because other governments either worked with Hitler, or didn’t do anything to stop him.

“When you look at it, every nation has a black mark on its history because of this. It is something we should talk about, even if it isn’t easy.”

The young people were told that many of the prisoners were unaware of the camp’s true nature, bringing luggage and personal items in the hope they would return home someday.

Rabbi Raphael Garson accompanied the group, and spoke to pupils at the exact spot where Nazi doctors would take a quick glance at the prisoners who had just arrived by cramped cattle cars and decide whether they would be sent straight to the gas chambers or whether they would be exploited for work, which often lead to their death.

He said: “Evil is re-defined when you come into this place.”

Following the visit, Raqueem Tanweer, 17, from Grange Technology College, said: “It gave you a real sense of scale. Before you come here you don’t really have anything you can compare it to.

“I would definitely recommend other students visit here.”

Ikram Rauf, also 17, added: “I didn’t expect that much detail from the guide. He gave some really detailed images.”

When asked about anything that particularly stood out, he referred to am image the group was shown of a woman who was rescued from the camp, weighing just 25kg. When she arrived there she was 75kg. He said: “That is the thing that really got to me. I liked how they referenced them as people and not just numbers. That makes everything seem worse because they are actually talking about people with names.

“It really highlights what we’ve learned in school, and it shows that you shouldn’t de-humanise people.”

Sixth form student Samirah Khan, said: “’The trip to Auschwitz was a gripping and harrowing experience that will always continue to be a lasting memory.

“It put into perspective the sheer size of the Holocaust and also highlighted deaths that did not only take place in the camps, which I think was very important as it made for a more inclusive trip. I’ll never forget seeing the pile shoes and hair as it brought home that each person was an individual with hopes and aspirations. The place had a feeling of absence.”

After the trip, Tom Jackson from the HET said: “When we now have to think is how do we take what we saw today and pass it on to the community.

“It is so important you talk to people about what you saw and responses to today’s visit. Auschwitz shows the consequence of unchallenged prejudice and intolerance.

“Your presence here gives us hope for the future that this hate will be challenged.”

The schools will continue to work with the HET and document their experiences of the visit.