‘Life-changing’ educational visits to Auschwitz to resume in Northern Ireland

A ‘life-changing’ programme run for students by the Holocaust Educational Trust will resume in Northern Ireland after government backing.

Since 1999, HET’s Lessons from Auschwitz project has taken 41,000 students and teachers from across the UK to the former Nazi death camp, which also involves hearing from survivors.

Of those, 540 students have been from Northern Ireland. The educational visit, which encourages participants to learn the history of the Shoah and its contemporary relevance, will now resume in the country after it was backed by the government’s education minister, Peter Weir.

“This is an important programme for Northern Ireland, both in terms of education and good relations,” he said. 

“So I am keen to see a restoration of the Programme so it is available to students here, and therefore I am delighted to confirm my commitment to its resumption.”

The news was welcomed by the Holocaust Educational Trust, which said “delighted” and “grateful” for the government support.

“Hundreds of students from across Northern Ireland have visited Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of the Lessons from Auschwitz Project and thanks to this support from the Northern Ireland Executive, we will carry on providing this life-changing opportunity,” said Karen Pollock, the charity’s chief executive.