A HARROWING account of the Holocaust was delivered to school pupils from a survivor of the genocide that claimed the lives of six million Jews.

Joanna Millan spoke at Rainhill High School as part of an organised visit by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET).

She shared her traumatic and moving story with 240 year 9 students, telling them how she was released from a concentration camp at the age of just three and fled to Britain with nothing.

The rest of her family perished in the gas chambers.

A question and answer session followed to give pupils a greater understanding of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth. The visit was part of the trust’s extensive all year round outreach programme, which is available to schools across the UK.

This month sees Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27, 2015), which also marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Head teacher John Pout, said: “It was a privilege for us to welcome Joanna Millan to our school. Her testimony is a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.

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