ABOUT 90 students at an Alcester High School came face to face with the horrors of the holocaust when a survivor visited the school recently.

Year 9 pupils at Alcester Grammar School listened to a emotional testimony by Susi Bechhofer, as she told them of how she fled Germany in 1939 along with her twin sister at the age of just three - and how it took her almost five decades to learn that her real mother had died in Auschwitz concentration camp.

Ms Bechhofer told the pupils about how her identify was changed to Grace Mann in 1945 by the Welsh minister and his wife who adopted them.

She discovered her real name in 1954 when she was ordered to sit an exam under her true name Bechhofer and this was confirmed in later life, following her retirement, when she stumbled upon her birth certificate.

She has since kept her Christian faith but changed her name back in 1988.

The testimony was followed by a question and answer session to enable students to better understand the nature of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth.

The visit, which took place on June 26, is part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Outreach Programme.

Principal Clive Sentance said: “It is a privilege for us to welcome Susi Bechhofer to our school and her testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.

“We are grateful to the Holocaust Educational Trust for co-ordinating the visit and we hope that by hearing Susi’s testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives.”

Karen Pollock MBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust added:“Susi’s story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing her testimony, students will have the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead.

“At the Trust, we impart the history of the Holocaust to young people, to ensure that we honour the memory of those whose lives were lost and take forward the lessons taught by those who survived.”

For more information visit www.het.org.uk.