Hundreds of Kingston students met Holocaust survivors last week, to mark what some fear could be the last major anniversary to be attended by people with first-hand experience of suffering under the Nazis.

January 27 was the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and almost 500 pupils from Richard Challoner, Southborough, Tolworth Girls’ and Esher High schools attended three days of Holocaust Memorial Day events at local synagogues.

Rabbi Michael Rosenfeld of the Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue said: “Maybe there will not be any more survivors, so it is transmitting the message to the next generation. It is the candle of continuity.”

Annemarie Seelig, 88, was brought up in Dresden and told students about life under the Nazis before she and her mother and brother emigrated to England with just a suitcase and £1, months before the outbreak of World War II.

Speaking to students, she said: “I did not even know I was Jewish. My father was agnostic and I was brought up without any particular religion and went to a state school.

“I had a very best friend, and used to sleep around her house. My form teacher came to me and said I am sorry but Maria does not want to sit with you any longer because you are Jewish. I did not even know I was Jewish until 1935.”

After her mother confirmed her heritage, she became interested in Judaism and started attending the synagogue.

Miss Seelig had vivid memories of Kristallnacht, and said: “I went to school that day and could smell the burning and did not think anything much. The head mistress came and told us what was happening. All the synagogues in Germany were burning. Men were taken into concentration camps and it was terrible.

“Any of us who were not from Berlin could go home. We had to go by the back door because there were Hitler Youth outside the front door. I was absolutely terrified to go on the train. I was never so happy as when I got home to my mother.”

Gianni Pederzolli, a 13-year-old student at Richard Challoner, said: “It was very touching to hear it from someone who had experienced it all the way through, rather than a text book. The thing that stuck in my mind was how she had to leave her school. I can’t imagine that sort of thing happening to me.”

Chiho Song, a 15-year-old student at Southborough said: “It was really interesting because you get a view from someone who really experienced it. When you read text books you hear from historians, not someone who actually lived through it. I think there will be people who listen to the survivors who will pass it on.”

Miss Seelig said: “We are human beings and it does not matter what colour. That is the message.”