Comment on the Prime Minister's visit to Auschwitz today - Holocaust Educational Trust

The Prime Minister Rt Hon Gordon Brown is today visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration and death camp in Poland.

On the Prime Minister’s visit today, Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, commented:

“The Prime Minister has been a long standing supporter of Holocaust education and we are pleased that he is taking this opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau today and pay tribute to the millions who suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown saw the value of, and provided funding for, the Holocaust Educational Trust’s (HET) Lessons from Auschwitz Project which enables us to facilitate visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau for two students from every school in the UK. This funding, which was extended in 2008, has so far enabled over 7,000 students and teachers to be part of this invaluable experience. We hope that his visit will inspire other young people to join us on the Lessons from Auschwitz Project and become ambassadors in their own communities, raising awareness of the past and challenging prejudice and racism today.”

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The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project

In 2005 (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP announced funding of £1.5 million for the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) in order to support the Lessons from Auschwitz Project, enabling two post-16 students from every school in the country the opportunity to visit the Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. In 2008 that funding was renewed for a further three years by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The four-part course, which includes a one-day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as Orientation and Follow-up seminars, leave an unforgettable emotional and educational mark on participants. The Project aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust based on the premise that ‘hearing is not like seeing’ and to signal what can happen if prejudice and racism become acceptable. For the final stage of the course, participants design and carry out follow-up work focusing on the contemporary lessons of the Holocaust in their schools and local communities.

So far HET have organised 38 Lessons from Auschwitz Projects and thanks to Government funding, HET are running an unprecedented 14 Projects in 2009. Since the inception of the Project, 7,000 students and teachers have taken part in Lessons from Auschwitz, from 11 regions of the UK. The Holocaust Educational Trust began running the Lessons from Auschwitz Project in 1998, but prior to Government funding were only able to run two Projects per year.

About The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET)

Founded by Lord Janner of Braunstone and the late Lord Merlyn Rees, the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) was formed in 1988. HET developed from MPs and Peers as a result of renewed interest and need for knowledge about the Holocaust, during the passage of the War Crimes Act in the late 1980s. HET's aim is to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust and its relevance today in schools and amongst the wider public.

One of HET’s first achievements was to ensure that the Holocaust was included in the National Curriculum in 1991 – for Key Stage 3 students (11-14 year olds). HET has also successfully campaigned to have the assets of Holocaust victims and Survivors released and returned to their rightful owners.

Having played a crucial role in the establishment, delivery and development of Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK, HET continues to play a key role in the delivery of the day. HET works in schools and higher education institutions, providing teacher training workshops and lectures, as well as teaching aids and resource materials.