MORE than 200 schoolchildren from across the region heard harrowing testimony from an Auschwitz survivor at a seminar on Sunday.
Susan Pollock, now 81, told how she was stripped and shaved and paraded naked in front of the Angel of Death – SS officer Josef Mengele - who cynically decided who should live and who should die.
She lied about her age (anyone under 15 was automatically sent to the gas chamber) but lost more than 50 relatives in the concentration camps.
“I think of myself as the custodian of this experience,” she said. “I am an orphan. I have no cousins, no-one.
“Speaking about it is a little bit empowering, it’s my therapy.”
She finds it stressful recalling the catastrophe that wiped out her entire family but added: “I don’t want to let it go. I want to share it.”
The seminar was organised by the Holocaust Education Trust as part of its Lessons from Auschwitz project and to prepare the youngsters for a visit to the infamous death camp tomorrow (Thursday, February 9).
They include pupils from Luton’s Cardinal Newman School.
Co-ordinator Alex Maws said the aim was to promote and encourage teaching of the Holocaust.
“It’s thought provoking and challenging,” he said.
“Experiencing it first hand is different from reading about it in a text book. It’s not just about statistics and dates.
“We want people to remember that all those involved were human beings.
“We want to increase our understanding of the continued relevance of the Holocaust and how we pass its history on to others.”
Students will visit Auschwitz and Birkenau to see the remnants of the barracks, crematoria and gas chambers.