Faced with a room full of everyday household items that prisoners brought, in the belief that they would be living at the camp, Hart had to step away at one moment and take a few breaths.

Carroll pointed out a hole in the ceiling to Walcott where the Zyklon B had been dropped into the gas chambers; a chemical that could kill within a minute; five minutes for those standing further away.

The Nazis would give it 20 before opening the doors. The sight of all those suitcases, one belonging to a two-year-old boy called Petr Eisler, was too much for Jagielka; a player with Polish roots.

He too had to step away for a moment to gather himself. The horror. The players were a credit to the Football Association in the way they conducted themselves.

On entering the building that housed the gas chamber and ovens, Jagielka read aloud the notice.

'You are in a building where the SS murdered thousands of people.'

Accompanying them was Avram Grant, the former Chelsea, West Ham and Portsmouth manager, who told them that 15 members of his family had died at Auschwitz. Bernstein and Hodgson signed the book of condolence.

Grant then gave a brief but moving speech.

'It is very important that you came here,' he said. 'People will see you have come here and then others will come here, too.'

They can pay their respects to Julius Hirsch, who was the first Jew to represent the German national team. He also fought for the German army in the First World War, serving his country with such distinction he was awarded the Iron Cross.

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