They say that travelling abroad with a school group can be a life-changing experience, and for the 40 pupils and four members of staff from Largs Academy who travelled to Germany recently, this definitely was true. Largs Academy English teacher Emma Newton writes about the experience...

The trip, organised by the History department, had the objective of allowing the pupils to experience the horrors of Nazi Germany, and also to learn a little about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. Pupils attending the trip described it as ‘unforgettable’ and ‘overwhelming’.

The group spent 2 nights in Berlin before travelling on to Nuremberg and Munich. The first visit was to the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, site of the 1936 Olympics and they spent the next few days fully immersed in learning about the horrors of Europe’s occupation by Hitler and the Nazis, Germany’s subsequent split, and the new horror in the form of Soviet oppression in East Germany.

The Olympic Stadium is a splendid site, which Hitler used to display what he saw as the grandeur of Germany to the rest of the world.

This visit was juxtaposed with a visit to Platform 17, where the Jewish population of Berlin were taken to be transported to the concentration and extermination camps. At the platform, S6 pupil, and aspirational history teacher Pia Stevenson read the unnerving poem “Shooting Stars”, setting the sombre mood.

The pupils found Platform 17 to be one of the most memorable aspects of the trip. S5 pupil Jena Leahy explained why: “Even though it was extremely hard to walk through a place where these terrible and callous events happened, it gave me a feeling I will never forget.”

Whilst in Berlin, the group also had the opportunity to take in some of Germany’s breathtaking architecture at the Brandenburg Gate, and had time to reflect at the Holocaust memorial. S4 pupil Ellyn Barclay felt “It is incredibly important for young people to learn about these horrid atrocities so that we can learn never to let history repeat itself.” Pupils also ascended the Reichstag – German parliament – at night, and learned about the symbolic importance of its internal glass walls which signify the German government’s commitment to transparency.

The final visit of Berlin was to Bernauerstrasse, where an intact section of the Berlin Wall remains. For everyone, the immediacy of the wall’s erection – literally overnight – was shocking. Guide Malcolm asked the group to imagine it happening in their hometown, between their primary and secondary schools. S6 pupil Pia Stevenson said: “I was able to stand and look at the wall and know I could walk freely to the other side. People couldn’t do that in the 60s. I can’t fathom why Stalin was ever allowed to just cut a city down the middle and trap people like animals on one side.”

The next day in Nuremberg was fleeting, but still provided the chance for three key visits – to The Museum of Fascination and Terror, the Nazi Rally Grounds and The Palace of Justice where the Nuremberg Trials took place. This continued to build context for pupils, as they were able to appreciate the power of the Nazi propaganda machine and literally follow the footsteps that Hitler took. S4 pupils Erin Malloch said, “”It shocked me to find out how much people looked up to Hitler as if he were a god, and that so many people who were involved with the bad things that happened in the camps denied their participation in the activities.”

The final leg of the trip took pupils to Munich, including a tour of the first concentration camp the Nazis opened at Dachau in 1933. This was – without doubt – a stand out moment for every member of the group as even the size of the camp was overwhelming after passing through the sinister “Arbeit Macht Frei” gate. Here pupils learned about the torturous treatment of prisoners at the camp, including political opponents of Hitler as well as Jews.

S6 pupil Joanna Stewart was overcome with grief at even the sight of Nazi propaganda for the camp. Official photographs of the camp revealed the fact that prisoners were stripped of their identities as their heads were shaved, their clothes replaced with striped pyjamas, their shoes switched for wooden clogs. She remembered: “Mrs Strahan read a poem “First they came…” by Martin Niemöller at Dachau and it really stuck with me. I learned more about how fragile life is. It is important for us to learn about these horrors so that we never allow it to happen again.”

This message was echoed by other pupils on the trip. S4 pupil Grace Phillips made an astute link to the current crisis in Syria and expressed her memory of “the unforgettable chill” that has helped her want to act to “ensure that history may never repeat itself. Addison Mann shared this belief that education is powerful: “The most definitive thing I took away from this trip is how diverse and distinct our society is and how important it is to reflect on our history.”

For the staff and pupils in Germany, it was unforgettable and emotional, but there was more to it than that. Michael Donnachie S4 felt that our guide Malcolm, made the trip powerful because: “He didn’t tell us what to think, he allowed us to reflect on what we saw and heard and then make our own judgements.”

Ultimately it was a unique experience. Joanna Stewart explained that “I left Germany with 39 new friends” whilst S4 pupil Megan Weipers felt that the trip was made more special by “all the people on it, all the jokes we shared and the laughs we had in the lighter moments.”

As 44 people returned to Scotland, there was certainly a shift in every single person’s attitude, proving the vital importance of learning lessons from our past.