'The memory of the Holocaust cannot be left to fade when us eyewitnesses can no longer share our memories'

ON the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a Holocaust survivor has reflected on the murder of six million Jews, saying: "You don't think you live in a world which does those things."

- By Giles Sheldrick

Susan Pollack was just a teenager when she endured the unimaginable, losing more than 50 members of her family including her mother and father to the horrors of Nazi persecution during the Second World War.

Now 94, she has devoted her life to educating others and ensuring the lessons are never forgotten.

Marking Holocaust Memorial Day, she joins voices worldwide in the solemn vow: never again.

Today, at the gates to hell, the 1.1 million men, women and children murdered inside Auschwitz will be remembered. On the first visit to the death camp by a reigning British monarch, King Charles will join Holocaust survivors including Michael Bornstein who was four when he was carried out of the concentration camp by his grandmother after it was liberated by the Soviet Red Army.

In an appeal to the world, Michael said: "Nothing will be easy about returning to Auschwitz 80 years after I was liberated.

"This commemoration will be the last of its kind. We will be there. Will you stand with us?"

He will join Charles, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and British Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich at an international service of remembrance. When she was eight, Mala lost her parents Sara and Moishe, sister Lucia and most of her extended family.

Mala, incarcerated at Ravensbruck and later Bergen-Belsen, was awarded an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.

She said: "I intend to share my testimony for as long as I am able to, but there will come a time when this is not possible.