History teacher from Wrexham chosen by Polish Embassy to take trip of a lifetime

A history teacher from Wrexham has been chosen to take part in a once in a lifetime trip to help strengthen the cultural understanding between the United Kingdom and Poland.

Stephen Hallam, who teaches in St Thomas Catholic School in Crewe, was selected by the Polish Embassy as one of eight history teachers across the country to take part in the four day trip.

Wrexham born and bred, Stephen felt it would be a great opportunity to find out more about Polish culture – especially with the strong links Poland has with his hometown and Crewe.

Stephen flew to Warsaw, Poland’s capital earlier this week – with his four day journey set to come to an end today.

During their time in Poland, the eight teachers will visit museums in the capital, before taking a train to Krakow to discover more about the medieval city.

Yesterday as part of the final day of the journey, the group received a tour around Auschwitz – the concentration camp where it’s estimated over one million prisoners died.

Speaking about his journey, Stephen said: “I’ve taught children about these places for over 25 years but never been.

“Two of my uncles, Len and Leslie Price passed away last year and they fought in the war. Now that the World War 2 generation is almost gone I can’t think of a better time to remember what happened in order to keep the memory alive.”

He added: “The Polish nation is keen to remind the world that although suited geographically within Poland, these were part of the Nazi German occupation and the Polish people were also the victims of this oppression.

“The museum allows visitors to walk in the footsteps of history, touring barracks, hospitals, gas chambers and crematoria.

“Afterwards the museum team talked about the importance of keeping the story alive for the future and encouraging people to visit, learn and understand.

“The study tour has been a great success.”