Religious studies - Holland Trip

On Monday 14th July we left school on a coach with Tom driving us along and Anna as our own tour guide. Along we drove to Hull and jumped on a busy ferry with our ridiculously big suitcases. We were all given room keys and sped up to our rooms getting lost along the way. We finally arrived in our rooms and discovered the cabin beds hidden in the wall. Once we had settled in our cabins we jetted off again to explore the ferry and discovered a cinema, cafés, a busy buffet, a ball pit, a balloon animal maker, a cosmetics shop, a dance floor and a stage.

The highlight of the trip was the visit to Anne Frank’s annex. For those of you who don’t know, Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding due to the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War. She and her family sought protection in a small annex hidden behind a bookcase. What struck us immediately was the lack of space. To think that both her family and another, the Van Pels, lived in that tiny space for two years is quite humbling.

On the second day we went to Camp Vught, a labour camp set up by the Nazis in 1942. 31,000 people were imprisoned in the camps between January 1943 and September 1944, including Jews, resistance fighters, gypsies and criminals. Of these over 750 died in the camp, but thousands more were transported from there to extermination camps around Europe.

Our final stop was at Arnhem Bridge, a site at which many allied soldiers tragically lost their lives. We were lucky enough to be given an introduction to the bridge’s history and a guided tour by our wonderful friend, Sam, a real war veteran. He gave us an insight into the suffering that not only the soldiers, but all the inhabitants of Arnhem had to endure. After this morning visit, we took a trip to the associated war memorial site. What we saw was overwhelming; rows of white headstones that seemed to go on forever. Into each headstone were engraved messages of sorrow, as one would expect. However, it seemed that every second headstone was engraved with the words “known only unto God” signifying the unidentified dead. Though there were times when we felt overwhelmed by the tragic events that seem to litter our history, this trip encouraged us to recognise the terrors, but also the strength of humanity.

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