A LYMM woman has travelled to Auschwitz with a 91-year-old survivor of the Nazi death camps on a specially chartered trip to Poland.
Deborah Murray, who regularly attends Lymm Baptist Church, flew out with 150 others to tour Auschwitz, Birkenau and Schindler's factory during a day-long visit.
Among the people on the trip was 91-year-old Leon Greenman OBE who has dedicated his life to telling his story of his survival in the camp.
His wife, sister, baby son Barnie and 60 members of his family were all gassed to death by Nazi officers at the death camp.
Deborah, who was one of five non-Jewish people on the trip organised by the Lubavitch South Manchester community, said the visit made a massive impact on her.
She added: "Like most people, I'd read testimonies of the Holocaust and seen photographs but it was all made real when I actually stood at the site of the gas chambers and took in the sheer scale of the operation.
"I found myself equating the number of people gassed in a few minutes with the size of my son's school."
She explained that despite the appalling nature of the atrocities they learned about, it was still a positive trip.
"It made me realize the things I had taken for granted - such as praying in my church - should not be taken for granted."
Deborah, an education coordinator and mother of four, said she felt it was an honour to join the trip.
"I strongly believe that, every now and then, we all need to step out of our comfort zones and see for ourselves what atrocious things men can do and have done to their fellow men," she said.
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