Chase Terrace Academy in Staffordshire had a memorable and poignant trip to Kraków, Poland, that has helped support the enrichment of the school’s history curriculum.
Our history department took a group of students to Kraków, where they learned about the rich history and culture of this incredible and insightful city. This was a return visit for us, having found the previous trip so powerful and thought-provoking.
On day one, after arriving and checking into our hotel, we headed to the Oscar Schindler Museum, dedicated to the wartime businessman made famous by the award-winning film Schindler’s List. Students walked through the exhibits, learning about the experiences of Jews who lived in occupied Poland. We explored each display, in which one depicted their deportation to urban ghettos and, ultimately, the deadly concentration and death camps.
Students also learned about individuals like Schindler, who successfully secured the freedom of hundreds of enslaved Jews from the horrors of Auschwitz and Plaszow Concentration Camps, as well as those who participated in resistance movements. While there, our learners visited the memorial in “Heroes Square,” the site where families were taken to Auschwitz by train, as well as the location of heroic attempts to disrupt the Nazi efforts.
“This was an amazing trip. Meeting a Holocaust survivor who was there in the Auschwitz was really eye-opening and makes me appreciate everything I have today.”
We made our way to Auschwitz on day two, where we took a tour of the site and the concentration camp. We began at the ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ gate and proceeded into the prisoner blocks. The tour concluded at the execution block, which housed the gas chambers and crematorium. Our students reflected on the prisoners’ experiences and the brutal reality of life under Nazi rule during World War Two.
Later, the group visited the Temple of Prayer, where they had the incredible opportunity to meet a Holocaust survivor who was born in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Stefania Wernik shared an emotional testimony in which she described how her mother was spared as a pregnant inmate and gave birth to her within the camp. Stefania was later taken as a young child to the experimentation block under the brutal Dr. Josef Mengele. She recounted her experiences but also shared powerful words of wisdom that everyone took on board.
On our final day of the trip, the group visited both the Rynek Underground Museum and the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine. The Rynek Underground Museum provided students with a fascinating insight into the history of Kraków and its trading past. They had the opportunity to view a variety of artefacts uncovered during excavations in the city, some dating back over 1,000 years.
“I was uneasy seeing the camps in person and not just in a textbook or in a lesson, but it’s important that our generation do this. I really enjoyed the rest of the trip, particularly the Salt Mines and having the opportunity to be independent in Kraków Old Town. Trying the local food was a highlight.”
We then travelled to the town of Wieliczka, where we descended deep into the subterranean mines. Here, we heard the tale of Princess Kilga of Poland, who cast her engagement ring from the Prince of Kraków hundreds of miles deep into the mines.
To prove his love, he mined 200 miles of tunnels to find the ring and prove his devotion. The mines were a breathtaking sight for students and provided a memorable way to end such a meaningful trip. The motto, “Always find the light deep within the darkness”, served as a poignant and timeless conclusion to this incredible school journey.
Trip leader Mr M Lloyd said: “This trip to Kraków was an incredibly enriching experience for both students and staff. It has allowed us to engage deeply with the history and culture of this remarkable city, while also reflecting on the darker chapters of its past. Revisiting these historical sites was profoundly moving, and the students’ responses to what they saw and heard were truly humbling.”
