TEENAGERS from schools across York and North Yorkshire are to get an opportunity to learn an important lesson from history in a visit to a notorious Nazi death camp.

Pupils from Fulford, Bootham, Archbishop Holgate’s CE, Huntington, All Saints’ RC Schools and York College in York, along with North Yorkshire schools and colleges including Malton, Lady Lumley’s, Easingwold and Whitby College, will be taking part in the Holocaust Educational Trust’s (HET) Lessons from Auschwitz Project.

Two pupils from each school will form part of a 200-strong group trip from 100 schools across Yorkshire and Humberside to Auschwitz on March 23 leaving from Leeds Bradford airport.

The trip is part of the Government’s commitment that two pupils from every sixth form and college in the country will be able to visit Auschwitz and learn about the Holocaust.

On arrival in Poland local guides and trust staff take the students and teachers around the camps before flying back to Leeds/Bradford Airport that evening.

The HET was established in 1988, and its aim is to educate young people from every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today.

The trust works in schools, universities and in the community to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “The trust’s Lessons From Auschwitz project is such a vital part of our work because it gives students the chance to understand the dangers and potential effects of prejudice and racism today.

“The inspiring work students go on to do in their local areas demonstrates the importance of the visit.”

Six million Jews died in the Nazi camps, along with millions of others, including gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, political opponents of the Nazis, gays, beggars, alcoholics and mentally ill and disabled people.