The spectre of World War Three shows we are failing to learn from the past. One organisation battling to improve our education has focused on one nation that can teach a stark lesson
Poland carries immense significance in a year that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe.
It is the country whose invasion by Nazi Germany in September 1939 was the catalyst to start the war and also provided the locations for the most notorious centres where Hitler’s evil regime attempted to carry out the Final Solution.
Extermination camps – such as the deadliest of all, Auschwitz – are a stark illustration as to why VE Day – Victory in Europe – had to be achieved. And with the spectre of World War Three hanging over the globe with bitter conflict once again raging in Europe, remembering previous horrors and learning from the lessons of the past is of the utmost relevance.
Liberation Route Europe is one organisation heavily involved in this year’s VE Day commemorations. The foundation, entering its 11th year, chose Poland to stage its annual Forum, a networking event of organisations dedicated to commemorating and learning lessons from the history of World War Two.
The 80th anniversary of VE Day is a central part of LRE’s Europe Remembers campaign. The organisation’s mission is to ensure the lessons of the war remain visible, accessible and relevant for future generations. It brings together a vast network of events, digital storytelling and public engagement, in particular using the routes that forces from west, south and east took to overcome Nazi Germany – highlighting areas of historical note and the people who took part in the battle for liberation.
In the last year LRE – which has networks across Europe including the UK – established Poland as another national branch and in addition to staging its forum in Krakow, ran a series of events and trips aimed at further engaging historical and travel organisations in promoting educational tourism, particularly aimed at young people.
It is difficult to imagine the beautiful city of Krakow, with its charming medieval old town, as a lynchpin in the Nazi system of terror. But here is where the regime ran its affairs across much of Occupied Poland. It’s where German businessman Oskar Schindler famously brought his own conscience to bear and saved many Jews from brutal toil and death in the labour camp system by providing them with work in his own enamelware factory – now a fascinating museum paying tribute to the spirit of humanity.
Krakow’s Jewish ghetto was ultimately liquidated, with most of its inhabitants being transported just a few miles from the city to Auschwitz. More than a million people perished in the Nazi death camp, most of them Jews, but victims included members of the Roma community, homosexuals, Christians and political prisoners. Today, the camp remains – with heartbreaking exhibits of the evil that was done here including rooms of luggage, shoes, and even human hair, shorn from its victims’ heads to be put to use as a weaving material in Nazi industry.
At Auschwitz today, enormous importance is placed on building a better future from the foundations of history, including through a new education centre, run by the museum’s deputy director, Andrzej Kacorzyk. In a nod to the current war in Ukraine, Mr Kacorzyk noted sadly how the mission of the education centre was needed more than ever, saying: “It seemed we were almost getting close to a peaceful world in Europe, that humanity had learned lessons.” But he added: “We all need to stand up to defend humanity and defend our values without fear.”
That was a message echoed by delegates at the LRE Forum in Krakow, with Jan Blazek of the Czech-based Post Bellum group established by educators. Mr Blazek, whose father survived a Nazi labour camp, told the mid-March conference: “If we learn to look at the present as if it was the past, it may help us to see.” He drew on that theme by explaining how the group had switched from the educational to the practical with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Following the Russian invasion, they collected funds and provided helmets and flak vests to help protect civilians during the fightback.
LRE’s post-conference activities extended beyond Krakow to Warsaw, the Polish capital that was the scene of one of the most heroic and tragic struggles against the Nazis. In August 1944 the mainly civilian Polish Home Army rose up against their German oppressors as they retreated from the Soviet forces approaching the city. But, chiefly for political reasons, the Red Army paused in its advance, allowing the Nazis to bring overwhelming force to bear against the Poles, crushing the uprising and then systematically levelling the capital.
A string of interactive museums scattered throughout Warsaw illustrate how the Polish spirit however remained unbroken. Post-war, the people rebuilt their city – including painstakingly reconstructing its beautiful historic medieval old town which was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status – and ultimately won their country’s freedom after decades of Russian domination. Once again, there are parallels with the current situation of war in Europe. And importantly among them, the idea that even amid the darkest of days, there remains hope.
To find out more about the LRE Foundation, its network of trails throughout Europe, projects, events and educational resources, go to: www.liberationroute.com