Letters From Auschwitz

Level 3 Health and Social Care student Sofiia Mikotkina and Level 3 Public Services student Georgina Williamson completed their Lessons From Auschwitz project recently, choosing to share what they learned from their experience of visiting the concentration camp with their fellow students by recording a podcast episode to be played on the Craven College radio station.

 This recording was the final step of a journey begun in February, when Sofiia and Georgina visited Auschwitz as part of a trip organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Accompanied on their trip by Senior Safeguarding and Wellbeing Officer Annette Campbell and dozens of other students from colleges across Yorkshire, the purpose of Sofiia and Georgina’s trip was to remember those who died in the Holocaust in order to stand against anti-Semitism, racism and prejudice today, so that such atrocities can never happen again.

 The Lessons from Auschwitz trip has been a long-standing event for Public Services students. Coordinated by Public Services tutor James Simpkin, it is as a way of impressing on future soldiers, medics and police officers where the dangers of racism, prejudice and “just following orders” can lead, since it was those same arms of the state that persecuted the Jewish people, Roma, gay people, political opponents and prisoners of war who were murdered in Auschwitz. This year, applications were opened up to the wider student body through the Student Executive, with the help of Enrichment Officer Victoria Alderson.

 Victoria Alderson said: ‘Widening participation in the Lessons from Auschwitz trip to include members of the Student Executive has been a valuable opportunity for the College. Previously limited to Public Service students, the programme now enables student leaders to take part as well. As representatives of the wider student body, they are well placed to share the lessons of Nazi Germany broadly across the College community, extending the impact of the experience’.

 Reflecting on the visit, Sofiia said “It was quite an emotional but peaceful experience at Auschwitz. We should not let this happen again“. Georgina added: “It is very eye opening and helps you understand the reality and chaos that occurred there 80 years ago“.

 Annette Campbell added, ‘In March 2026, I had the privilege of accompanying two students to Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), an experience which provided them with an important educational opportunity, which went far beyond lessons learned in a classroom.” 

 Visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau allowed our young people to confront the reality of the Holocaust in a direct and personal way while fostering a deeper understanding of the consequences of prejudice, hatred, and discrimination.  

The guidance provided by HET on the visit, helped the students engage thoughtfully with history, encouraging reflection, empathy, and critical thinking. This experience played a crucial role in ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten, empowering our Craven College students to perform their new role as HET Holocaust Ambassadors and ensure the mistakes from the past are not repeated in the future’.

Sofia and Georgina’s podcast episode – which also includes Level 3 Public Services student Jay Hawthornthwaite, who recently visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp as part of a Public Services trip to Berlin and who has visited Auschwitz in the past – will be aired next week in College.