During February half-term, thirty six sixth-form students, much in the fashion of Operation Overlord, embarked upon an invasion of mainland Europe. The group enjoyed ten days of frenetic historical activity, traversing the nations of Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.
The coach, driven with acute skill and at times raw rapidity by our reassuringly Welsh drivers, provided our home for most of the trip. However the prolonged periods of time upon it were passed with much enjoyment, with this being derived at some times from Mr Brown’s unique banter, and at others by the devilishly difficult and bizarrely obscure rounds of Mr Johnson’s infamous quiz.
Our first stop off was at Nuremburg, wherein we visited the courtrooms which had held the trials of the Nazi war criminals. There was also a tour of the rally grounds where we soon gained an impression of Hitler’s desire for enormity as a means of attempting to cultivate his image of vast power. There was little time to dwell upon this, however, as we soon traveled to Prague, allegedly the capital of the Czech Republic but more famous as the place where scenes from ‘Mission Impossible’ were filmed.
Before this, however, we visited the famous ‘small fortress’ of Terezin. Our tour guide took us expertly round the intricacies of this ‘small fortress’, including the cell in which Gavrilo Princip, most famous for assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary (and thus starting World War I), was held during the Great War. However, it also showed us, albeit on a small scale, the terror that the Nazis could cause when they later appropriated it for their own use. The full extent to which they were able to do this was revealed to us later in the trip.
Despite being fairly fatigued by this point, we still found time to go to Krakow. Here, we found our number increased to the tune of one by the delightfully Borat-esque Rene, who showed us round his town with a mixture of pride and anecdotal absurdity. It was a really interesting tour, and we all agreed that we would go to Krakow again some time in the future.
We then visited Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the main reasons for going on the trip. It was quite an emotional visit, as the terror of the Nazis was revealed in a horrifically tangible way. A chilling tour around one of the centres of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ proved to be a real eye-opener. It was an experience that was worth it, but perhaps not one that one would want to repeat. The site remains a constant reminder of the human cost of such a tyrannical regime.
We then went on to Berlin, briefly visiting the Holocaust Memorial Centre. After this, we spent some time shopping on the Potsdamer Platz. The final stop on our tour was in Wittenburg, a town in which the very breeze of early modern history whistles down its ancient streets. It was formerly the home of full-time monk and part-time perpetrator of the single biggest event in European history (the Reformation), Martin Luther. With a comprehensive tour of the town, we learnt about Luther’s Reformation, as well as some early printing press methods.
All that was left was for us to take to the autobahn and head home, reflecting on what had been ten days packed with activity. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, and for this our thanks go to the teachers who made it possible: Mr Johnson, Mr Brown, Miss Mackay and Miss Fitzgerald. We are indebted to them for their time, effort, and fiercely competitive games of Scrabble.
