Irvine pupils say their view of life is changed forever after harrowing visit to former Auschwitz concentration camp

That’s the profound message the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) works upon.

Six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered.

More than one million of them were killed in a small Polish town which housed the largest mass murder site in human history - Auschwitz-Birkenau.

And last week, Irvine and Kilwinning pupils joined schools across Scotland as part of a 200-strong party from HET on a haunting tour of the death camp.

Now in it's 17th year, HET's Lessons from Auschwitz programme let's students throughout the UK understand the true extent of the horrors and to return home with that knowledge.

The experience shifts the focus from the methods of murder to looking at the human aspect involved - whether as a survivor or perpetrator.

Irvine Royal, Greenwood, Kilwinning, Ardrossan and Largs Academies were all represented on the trip.

Prior to the visit, the pupils were introduced to Jewish life in Europe before the Second World War and heard the testimony of Eva Clarke, a Holocaust survivor born in Mauthausen concentration camp.

Upon arriving in Kraków on a chartered flight from Glasgow Airport, the pupils visited Oswiecim - which the German's translated to Auschwitz - where pre-war around 60 per cent of the population was Jewish.

It was a sun-soaked day in southern Poland - but the massacres of the past still leave an eerie chill in the air.

The party sombrely walked through a Jewish cemetery which sadly remains under tight security after becoming a target for desecration by neo-Nazi fascists.

The Nazi's once used the headstones of the same cemetery for pavements and road repairs but it was eventually repaired by a Jewish man, despite being unable to know exactly where the bodies lay.

Guided by a woman named Agnes - who has conducted tours of the sites since 1990 - the feeling of what occurred over 70 years ago became more real when clasping eyes on the infamous motto above the camp gates: “Arbeit macht frei” (work makes you free).

Huge glass displays within the former barracks at Auschwitz I showed documents of inmates, suitcases, shoes and other items taken from prisoners.

A particularly harrowing sight was 2,000kg of human hair shaved from slaughtered inmates and prepared for weaving.

From there, an emotional display highlighted Jewish families living happily within their communities before the rise of the Nazis.

A separate barracks houses the breathtaking book of names of all killed in the Holocaust. Students were asked to pick out a name and imagine the thought of their journey to the death camps.

A short bus journey led the group to the 40-acre site most people associate with the word “Auschwitz”.

The vast majority of victims were murdered there. The sight you are greeted with upon entering through the archway is unforgettable.

All eyes were glued on the train line that ended way beyond in the distance.

Barracks, barbed wire fences and SS watchtowers cast a shadow on the vast and haunted land.

A huge group wearing white hooded jumpers - one of the teachers believed they were an Israeli group - were unmissable as they marched through the site.

The white, an educator informed, was said to be symbolic of defiance and reclamation for their people.

A more surreal sight saw a security guard clad all in black roaming the land on a Segway. A rare touch of humour for lachrymose mourners.

Astonishingly, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum had to warn visitors about playing Pokemon Go at the death camp earlier this year.

Among the Ayrshire group, there were no mobile games, no selfies, just respect.

The tour highlighted the appalling conditions prisoners were made to endure in the freezing cold, surrounded by their own waste.

Although the distressing facts of the Holocaust are hammered home, a myth was also debunked.

Many believe life no longer encompasses Auschwitz-Birkenau.

But seldom though they were, birds were spotted flying above the site, trees flowing softly in the backdrop - even a wild cat was spotted roaming the grounds.

A walk round the crematoria provided time for further reflection. The buildings were destroyed by the Nazis before the 1945 liberation.

This was followed by a walk through the gas chamber where millions of Jews suffered a slow and agonising death.

Pictures of many victims’ faces, taken from suitcases, gave a small insight into the lives they led before.

To close the sobering day, a memorial service, led by Rabbi Andrew Shaw, paid tribute to those who were slaughtered and spoke of the need to speak out against hate.

This was particularly relevant as three days prior to the trip, a fellow Rabbi in Edinburgh had his skull cap thrown on the ground before being called “Jewish scum”.

Rabbi Shaw’s emotional speech to the 200-plus fixated on his every word quickly gathered attention.

An Israeli family - draped in their homeland’s flag - stood in awe of the crowd, remarking to Rabbi Shaw of their amazement at the number of young people paying tribute to the dead.

Incredibly, a woman in her 80s was actually born in Auschwitz-Birkenau and had led four generations of her family to the barracks where she was born.

A spontaneous and moving rendition of the Jewish anthem - Hatikva (The Hope) - was then proudly sung in Hebrew by the family and Rabbi Shaw.

Pupils and teachers then lit candles across the train tracks and memorial as night began to fall.

Greenwood Academy head boy and girl, Matthew Gaw and Rebecca Swanson, say the experience has changed the way they look at life.

They said: "As ambassadors of Greenwood we were very privileged to have been chosen to go on such a moving and educational trip.

"We found visiting the camps to be very humbling due to the powerful scenes that we saw.

"Being able to see the camps for what they really are helps us imagine what life must have been like. It was an incredibly worthwhile experience that we will never forget.

"We look forward to sharing this experience with others as we must never forget what humanity is capable of and yet that there is always a chance of recovery.

“This will change the way we view life today forever."

Emotionally and physically, it was a tough day for all involved.

But the pupils were in no doubt the experience was worth it.