School trip to Auschwitz - opimnions

Strange I don't remember it being harrowing but I do remember feeling very emotional. I think if I went today I would find it more harrowing. I probably have a greater understanding now than I did as a teenager.

I can alsi remember it being very quiet and almost peaceful.

From reading this thread and the thoughts of people who have actually been to Auschwitz, I do think that 14 is a bit young to go there.

I was in Berlin / Sachsenhausen when I was 17 and it was thought provoking and harrowing. It was not nearly as detailed as Auschwitz seems to be. It had a lasting impression on me.

Last year we visited the Holocaust Museum in Berlin, I believe this would be a better option for 14 year olds. It did not hide the terrible truth of the holocaust but was not so explicit.

It is important that our children know the truth about the horrors of the holocaust, only then will they have the courage to stand up and say no to any future dictator-in-the-making.

I agree with cod, btw, the concentration camps were not directly to do with the war, they would have existed without the war. I do think that the knowledge of the camps was more widespread both here in Germany and in the allied countries, than we are led to believe.

I think 14 is too young. We watched a documentary about Belsen at school at that age and that was bad enough.

Visiting Auschwitz is an amazingly profound experience, but I think at 14 it could just been too much. Looking at the rows of photos (from the early days, when they photographed each inmate) is harrowing in its own right, looking at all of them and thinking "you were sent here to die here, and you had no idea when they took this picture". Wall after all after wall after wall.

As others have mentioned, the shoes (I actually don't remember the hair), the luggage. And Mengele's block. We went in to the ground floor and there was a sign "this way for the cellar" - we couldn't do it. Couldn't go down there.

Looking at the end of the railway track, where the memorial is, and knowing this was the truest end of the line you might ever see.

Incredible. And powerful. And people should go. But not at 14 if it's not right for them.

I can barely watch documentaries on the television about Auschwitz now at the grand old age of 34.
I'm not sure if I would have had the emotional capacity to have dealt with it at 14.
I do take the point someone made about the way in which we 'baby' our young adults, but I'm not sure that seeing the reality of such evil is a wise thing.
There are loads of other mediums/media in which to learn about these things.
I would also like to add that is important for people to to have different opinions on things like the holocaust without being told off for being 'offensive ' or 'inappropriate'
there seems to have been a lot of jumping in and being abusive to posters recently

I would not send a 14year old on a class trip to Auschwitz. I don't feel able to go there myself at my age.

I went to Sachsenhausen which was a concentration camp, it's near Berlin. It was not a death camp in the sense Auschwitz was. There is not much left standing but I had the weight of my reading and imagination behind me and I could not cope with it at all. Others may be more resilient.

I think dc can learn about the holocaust at 14 but they don't need to visit a camp at that age. Sometimes it's the less harrowing details which stick with you and make a more lasting impression that the truly horrific details which your mind tries to slide away from.

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history 101 cod, i think you're pretty patient to come back and post....

forsale, I took a bunch of senior pupils(16-18) to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. They were deeply affected by it. It was a profoundly moving experience. In the light of how they found it, I personally would have big reservations about taking a 14 year old to Auschwitz.

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i think it's a great oppurtunity for your daughter to be able to go on the trip,these places have such horiffic history and it's only right that the youth today are taught first hand what evil happened in the world because of these horrible tyrants.

No lisalisa, not at all. I meant maisym.

forsale....told you you'd get some opinions!!!!

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I've been to Auschwitz and I would not recommend it for any child. It's fine for adults but I found it to be very harrowing. I'll never forget it.

It is harrowing but it is also incredibly eye-opening and educational, I think your daughter would benefit from it. It's not something made up or over sensationalised but the truth and imo something all children should be aware of. It certainly made me wake up to how cosseted we are in our generation/ time/ western world and appreciate things more.

I used to live in Germany and visited Dachau when I was 19. It made me cry and was a very upsetting experience but I feel a very important one. If we were still there then I would take my dd who is yr 9 and also the other one who is yr 7.

It think our teens should see and understand what horrors man can do

Let them be shocked and distraught, give them the understanding that bad people do bad things and is still going on

50 years ago, 14 year olds were out at work, not mollycoddled as they are today. Boys just a year or 2 older were sent off to war

My ds class went to the graves in belguim last year, they saw it as a jolly to start with. They all came back with a respect they didn't have before, especially as one boy found the grave of his great grandfather. We should be making these things real for them, visiting places and seeing it for themselves will do this and if they shed a tear, it might make them a better person in future years

Slightly different but similar, I watched the mini series roots as a 10 year old, that one film taught me how horrific slavery was and has made me a much better person (coming from a relatively bigoted family and now have very different views t them, because of roots)

Stop mollycoddling these young adults

all i can do is apologise again lisalisa, my comments were ill thought out and pretty stupid.

I really think 14 is far too young. If your dd grasps the horror of what went on, it will be far too traumatic for her to deal with. If she doesn't grasp it, there is no point in her going

forsale - if your DD has asked to go then that is different. But, just before she goes, I would sit down with her and talk about the emotions she might feel when getting there and that it is okay for her to feel these emotions too, and she should talk to you about them on return if she needs too.

I'd speak to history teacher too - to find out context, what was being done there, etc.

I think 14 is too young. More a sixth form and above type trip I think.

I would have no issue with a 14yo visiting war cemetries and trenches - my 5yo has been to those.

But from what I have heard Auschwitz can be very distressing to visit, and I would have thought it would be a bit too much for many 14 year olds.

I think greeny was referring to maisym?

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I went to dachau concentration camp at about 15. Moving, haunting and has stayed with me ot this day.