ByRobyn Rosen, Robyn Rosen
A Muslim and Jewish pupil are travelling to Auschwitz together for a BBC documentary.
Danielle Coupland, a 17-year-old King David Manchester pupil, is flying to Poland today for a tour of the death camp site, along with Umar Zahoor, also 17, from Bradford.
They will be joined by Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton on the trip, which will be filmed for a documentary for both radio and TV by award-winning radio presenter Liz Green.
Danielle, from Leeds, "agreed to take part because I felt that it would be the biggest experience of my life. It will be moving sharing the experience with a Muslim boy who is the same age as me. I am sure our thoughts will be very similar.
"The experience will make me really appreciate what I have and that I am very lucky. I know it will be a memory I will never forget."
Added her mother Amanda, who will also be taking part: "There are always a lot of problems in the world between Jews and Muslims so it's important to share each other's views and stick together."
Mr Hamilton's grandmother escaped Nazi-occupied Paris. He felt it would be "interesting to see the difference in impressions a Jewish girl and Muslim boy have, or if they have the same perspective.
"How do we stop human beings looking at another group and thinking they are sub-species and giving themselves excuses to eliminate them?
"I think it's really important people of different faiths see Auschwitz. For teenagers this is history but it's real to me."
Ms Green said she had wanted to visit Auschwitz for personal and professional reasons. The pupils came from "very different cultures and I thought it would be interesting for them to tell me what they feel.
"This may increase their understanding of each other."