Every year, Year 11 students travel to Berlin to see first hand the state Germany found itself in: before, during and after the Second World War, as a way of educating and enhancing the learning experience for the IGCSE course that studies that period in history.
It is an intense and fascinating couple of days in which we visited Berlin’s parliament, ‘The Reichstag’, the Olympic stadium, various museums that provide detailed and interesting information, and many more. These historic sites and museums all show what Germany was like during the Nazi regime, and how it recovered its democracy as well as rightfully marking the massacres that occurred at that time by creating several monuments, such as ‘The Holocaust Memorial.’
One of the most vital visits during our stay was the one to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum, which in the past had been one of the many concentration camps created by the Nazis, where thousands of people (such as Jews, homosexuals, people of other races and political beliefs) were imprisoned and murdered. That visit was the most shocking and eye-opening for students to witness, because we got so see first hand to horrors that were committed in the past.
One of the things that was most impressive was how Germany had managed to reconstruct itself to tell its story and the truth, and how respectfully and solemnly it did it, making sure to give access to as much information as possible, and displaying it in an honourable way.
Everywhere we went, something was learnt, and it didn’t matter how tired the students were;
the trip was so interesting, we wanted to take in as much information as possible before going back home. I think Berlin is a trip that all students lucky enough to experience will never forget.
Claudia T, Year 11