69
Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
Out of School
the Nazis intended to work people to death by feeding
them despicably small amounts of food despite working
for several hours per day in intensive labour camps doing
often unnecessary work in the freezing winters and hot
summers typical for this part of Poland. We visited some
extremely moving exhibitions including collections of
shoes and hair from the unthinkably large number of
victims. The shoes that were on display filled up a large
room, a metre deep, yet our guide said that this was only
an estimated five percent of the total number collected
from the victims. Another almost equally disturbing site
was the house of one of the guards who had lived with his
family on the edge of the camp. It was here that his wife
had described as a ‘nice place to live’ where she felt happy
to raise her family.
After visiting Auschwitz One, we moved to the
extermination camp, Auschwitz Birkenau, and first saw
the watch towers where the guards would be situated. We
climbed up and observed the vastness and openness of
the camp. As we entered Auschwitz Birkenau we walked
up the very same railway line that brought people into the
camp. We walked further to see where the gas chambers
once stood before the guards exploded them to try and
destroy the evidence of their crimes. One of the most
moving places in Auschwitz Birkenau was an exhibition
of photographs of many of the people who died in the
Holocaust. This humanised the entire Holocaust which
was one of the key aims of the Holocaust Education
Trust in the trip. We took part in another service during
which we sang Hebrew prayers and lit candles which we
placed along the railway line. At the end of a long day in
Auschwitz, we returned on the one hour coach journey to
Kraków Airport and then back to London. It was a highly
moving, yet fascinating trip which I was pleased that I had
the opportunity to take part in.
A further week later, we went to the follow up seminar
duringwhichwe reflecteduponour uniqueexperienceand
how Auschwitz differed from our pre-held expectations. I
think that this was definitely helpful in summarising our
feelings about the trip, which were at times difficult to
express to others who had not experienced it.
Matt Chapman Y12
Ski trip 2013
On the 15
th
of February 40 or so students plus 6 teachers
piledontoone coachoutside school, preparing themselves
for the next 20
hours of being
cramped
all
together.
We
reached the ferry
to take us across
to France after
about 3-4 hours,
as we queued to
get on we each
got handed out
our bright pink
‘Borlase Ski Team
2013’ hats which we had to wear around the ferry. When
we got onto the ferry we all split into little groups and to
be honest I think most of us slept through that part of the
journey. When we reached France we all piled back onto
the coach and waited for the next 14 hours to pass by.
We were all wide awake in the last hour of the journey as
we first drove through all the snow covered mountains,
realising we were almost there! When we finally reached
the hotel we all clambered out of the coach and we had to
take a suitcase up to the reception so we could collect our
own ones there and take them upstairs. We all sat down
and were given our rooms so we went upstairs to change,
shower unpack etc before we had dinner. We ate dinner
in the hotel’s restaurant most nights unless we went out.
After dinner we had to go down to the basement to get
fitted for our ski boots, helmets and skis.
The next morning was our first day on the slopes, and
we had to be downstairs in the dining room, which
was the same level as the basement, at 7:30 this and
every morning. It was a 5 minute walk to the gondolas
which took us up to the mountain, which wasn’t too
bad. We had a 2 hour morning and afternoon session
