Ipswich and Colchester pupils have been reminded of the horrors of the Holocaust by a Suffolk-based Auschwitz survivor.
More than 200 students from 23 schools in Suffolk, Essex and Kent took part in the induction event for the Dora Love Prize at the Colchester-based University of Essex on September 26.
The prize, named after Holocaust survivor and educator Dora Love, aims to teach children about the dangers of intolerance, discrimination and hatred and their link to the terror experienced by millions in the Second World War.
As part of the launch event, fellow Holocaust survivor Frank Bright, who was sent to the camp as a teenager, spoke to children about his nightmare experiences.
MORE: The story of Auschwitz survivor Frank Bright
Mr Bright said: "Seeing these children reminds me forcefully of the past. They are alive, they expect to live life to the full, and to achieve their ambitions through hard work.
"They remind me of my classmates, who had equal ambitions but who, instead of being able to achieve them, were murdered in the most cruel and barbaric way in their early youth.
"My friends and I were denied our youth - the most useful and influential years of one's life were just wasted with nothing but sorrow and misery."
Among the school children invited to the event were pupils from Northgate High School in Ipswich, and St Helena School in Colchester.
The children, from years seven to ten, learned the views of ordinary German citizens during the war, as well as how other minority groups including the Roma and the Sinti were targeted as part of the genocide.
They will now develop their response to this year's theme: "Stand together - for whom will you be a witness?" and present their project during the university's Holocaust Memorial Week in January 2020, where the Dora Love Prize will be awarded.
Northgate High School teacher Sally Samson said: "Being involved in the Dora Love Prize is such a valuable and important experience for our children. It enriches their lives in terms of their understanding of the Holocaust and issues around prejudice and discrimination, which remain prevalent in our world today.
"For our pupils it is a profound experience."
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