A HOLOCAUST survivor has been visiting schoolchildren and talking about the "horrors" of war.

Polish-born Zigi Shipper, aged 80, talked to Year 12 pupils from Haberdashers’ Aske's Knights Academy in Launcelot Road, Downham, on May 10.

During the visit he spoke to 120 students about his experiences in the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in 1944.

After surviving a few weeks in the Nazi site he was moved to a concentration camp in Danzig, Poland.

As the Russians advanced towards Poland, he and other prisoners were sent on a death march to Germany before British troops liberated him in the town of Neustadt in May, 1945.

English teacher, Edward Graham, said: “It was a privilege for us to welcome Zigi Shipper to our school and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced for our students.

"We hope that by hearing Zigi’s testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives.”

The event was organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust which was set up in 1988 to educate young people about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today.

Chief executive of the trust, Karen Pollock, said: "Zigi’s story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing his testimony, students will have the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead."