Absorbing it all: The England delegation stop to take in what they have seen

But the designer logos were removed and, instead of the white polo shirts, these were black and selected for the occasion.

Hodgson and Bernstein were among those wearing blazer and tie. Another group, including Steven Gerrard and John Terry, attended the Schindler museum.

They had already heard the story of Zigi Shipper, a survivor of Auschwitz. He had shared his memory of when he arrived here as a young prisoner, a terrified 10-year-old.

'The sky was hazy and there was a terrible smell,' he told them at their hotel in Hertfordshire last week. 'From a distance we saw chimneys with smoke coming out. We didn't realise what it was but rumours started spreading that it was a crematorium.

'I was taken to Auschwitz. We were one of the few transports arriving on a ''Named'' list. The other people on the train weren't named and they went to "Selection".

'Sometimes the guards asked women to put their children down. Mothers wouldn't. So the guards tried to rip the children out of their arms. If they didn't succeed, they shot the woman or the child or both. I ask myself the same question every day. How can a human being do that?'

Rooney asked the exact same question after standing on the spot where the selection process took place, having already seen the photograph of an SS doctor - believed to be Heinz Thilo - deciding whether a person was sent to work or ordered to the gas chambers.

As Wojciech had explained, most of those who perished were murdered within two hours of arriving here. Rooney was the first England player to raise his hand when offered the opportunity to come here. He had watched The World At War series.

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