Madonna to visit Auschwitz

Aug 3, 2009, 9:22 GMT

US singer Madonna. The \'4 Minutes\' singer thinks a visit to the famous concentration camp will be "life changing" for Lourdes, 12, Rocco, eight, newly adopted Mercy, four, and David, three. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

Madonna wants to take her children to Auschwitz so they can "see how lucky they are".

The '4 Minutes' singer thinks a visit to the famous concentration camp will be "life changing" for Lourdes, 12, Rocco, eight, newly adopted Mercy, four, and David, three.

The 50-year-old star - who is a devout follower of Kabbalah, a mystical religion based on Judaism - is expected to make the trip when her she takes her 'Sticky and Sweet' tour to Poland later this month, and has already asked her staff to organise it.

An insider told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "It won't be an easy trip but it is an ultimate life affirming experience, and one Madonna - because of her strong Kabbalah beliefs - does not want to ignore.

"She wants her children to appreciate how lucky they are and to learn about mistakes made in the past."

Auschwitz was the largest of Adolf Hitler's concentration camps built when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1941.

It is estimated up to three million Jews, gypsies and people of other ethnic groups were killed there.

Madonna is also believed to be planning to take the children to see the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

A source said: "The Wailing Wall is a very sacred place for anyone with links to the Jewish faith and she wants the children to see it."

The trip will reportedly happen in September to coincide with Madonna's final date of her tour in Tel Aviv, Israel.