Polish Law trip

Law students from Edge Hill University travelled to Poland to gain real experience of the atrocities they had learned about in their human rights lectures.

Senior Law Lecturers Robert Collinson and Kas Wachala, who is also a specialist in Human Rights Law, led a trip to Krakow and Auschwitz.

The students visited the concentration camps, as well as taking a tour of the places portrayed in the film Schindler's List and visiting the Jewish ghetto and synagogue.

Students Joe Davidson, James Molloy, Liz Wrathall, Lisa Oram and Sam Spence wrote about the trip on their return. They said: "When we study human rights in the lecture theatre, it is impossible to fully understand the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust.

"Only when you go and experience the eerie and silent atmosphere of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau for yourself, does it dawn upon you how horrific this systematic mass extermination of the millions of innocent people truly was. There is no truer phrase than ‘seeing is believing' in order to comprehend the scale of the atrocity, especially when confronted with the sheer size of Birkenau, and the seemingly never-ending ruins. From the labour camps, to the gas chambers, to the crematorium, there is no bigger reality check.

"Overall, the trip to Poland was truly eye opening and makes you realise just how lucky we are. Explaining to friends and family what it was like to visit the concentration camps did not give justice to the experience.

"To experience something like this outside of the lecture theatre was truly an experience like no other and we could only hope that the module continues to allow students the same opportunity we had, so that the memory of the Holocaust lives on through the generations, and the victims are not forgotten."

Law lecturer Kas Wachala added: "In the Human Rights module we spend quite some time examining the law relating to  the crimes of  genocide, crimes against humanity and mass murder, however,  nothing can prepare students for the grim reality  and horror of Auschwitz. It is important that students see such atrocities as not being a thing of the past; in our studies we also examine cases of mass murder and genocide that have occurred in our own life time and, unfortunately, are occurring now. In visiting Auschwitz we are reminded that unless we learn from the past, history will indeed be repeated."