Trip to Berlin

Last weekend, sixteen Year 10 historians flew to Berlin for an academic trip, in the company of Mr Ian Goddard and Mrs Teresa Kwiecinska. The aim of the trip was to better understand the intricacies of the Weimar Republic’s society,

There were some moving moments, especially one when we went to Grunewald Station - nowadays an empty space with dirty rail track and some not-so-random numbers. Behind those numbers are real Jewish politics, art and the sudden growth of the Nazi power. With the guidance of the Anglia Tours guide, Mr Webb, we were taken on the road of discovery considering how hate, scapegoating and political manipulation led to the inhumane incarceration of prisoners in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. victims of the final deportation to Auschwitz. Our guide gave students photos with personal details of some of those who were forced there to board trains taking them to their death. This was powerful visualization of what students read in their textbook, becoming not just a story but an experience for them all.

We wanted our students to leave Germany with some more optimistic messages, and a visit to Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, from 1936, provided this opportunity: a story of the quadruple victory of Jessie Owen. This was a great trip, and a profound learning experience!