I WAS pleased to read the article in The Press on March 17 about the Archbishop Holgate School’s pupils’ visit to Auschwitz organised by the Holocaust Education Trust.

The article described some of the items on display and told of the chilling effect visiting Birkenau had on the young people.

I visited Auschwitz last October and I am still struggling to come to terms with the terrible crimes that took place there.

At the height of the killing, in summer 1944, about 10,000 people per day were sent to their deaths at this camp.

Most of our schoolchildren do not have the opportunity to visit Auschwitz, and this is why Holocaust Memorial Day is so important.

It raises awareness of the Holocaust and of man’s inhumanity to man. I deplore the decision by the council to cut the budget for this event by 80 per cent, from £5,000 to £1,000, and I urge everyone who agrees with me to write to the council or sign the petition on yorklabour.org.uk

I should like to know what the young people who visited Auschwitz think of this decision.

Maybe they will write to The Press to let us know.

Denise Bowgett, Lady Hamilton Gardens, Holgate, York.