History: The World Wars in Germany, France and Poland

France, Germany and Poland each hold a different part of the story of World War II: its causes, its atrocities, and the legal and human rights frameworks that followed.

In France, students study the Alsace region, a territory reshaped by shifting borders and wartime occupation, then visit the former Struthof concentration camp and regional memorial sites, encountering history as it affected ordinary families and communities.

In Germany, students trace the rise and fall of the Nazi regime in Berlin, visiting memorials, museums and historical landmarks that examine political power, propaganda and division, then consider how the country has confronted this history in building a more inclusive democracy since.

In Poland, students visit memorial sites and former concentration camps central to the history of the Holocaust, engaging directly with the human stories behind the historical record, and with what these sites mean for justice, ethics and global citizenship today.

Throughout, expert-led discussions connect what happened to why it happened, and to the international legal frameworks, the Nuremberg trials and the Geneva Conventions, that emerged in response. Students also examine how shifting borders and territory shaped the conflict itself, connecting history to geography as well as law.