SILENCE fell over Oxfordshire schoolchildren gathered at Auschwitz-Birkenau after they were told the inconceivable notion a minute's silence for each Holocaust victim would last two years.

The Holocaust is often thought of by numbers with approximately six million Jewish men, woman and children murdered as well as many others including the disabled, prisoners of war and Sinti and Roma gypsies.

But this hard-hitting truth is one that has stayed with the teenagers who travelled to Poland before heading to the former Nazi death camps of O?wi?cim with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Pupils were chosen in their pairs from 10 local schools to tour Auschwitz during a one day trip in April before heading back to share their experiences with fellow students.

As a result of the trip, The Cooper School in Bicester last week welcomed Holocaust survivor John Fieldsend after an invite from students Shauna Bennett, 17, and Emma Smale, 17.

Miss Bennett said: "It is so hard to comprehend what went on there, it looks just like a scene from a movie - and to know so many people were killed there is shocking.

"To be chosen for the trip we had to create a plan for how we would share our experiences with the rest of the school.

"We wanted to create a website with videos and pictures, to host exhibitions and also invite our Holocaust survivor into school."

Mr Fieldsend, from Thame, was just seven when he managed to reach Britain with his 10-year-old brother Gert and fostered by an English family.

He left behind his parents in Czechoslovakia who later died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

He told his story to the Bicester school pupils on Tuesday, June 21, and history teacher Chris Kendall said: "It is a huge privilege and honour to welcome John Fieldsend, to speak about his incredible life and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced."

Other schools that joined the Bicester students on the Auschwitz trip - which toured O?wi?cim and Auschwitz-Birkenau - included Banbury Academy, The Warriner School, Burford School, Cooper School, Headington School, King Alfred's Academy, St Clare's, Oxford, St Gregory the Great School, Wallingford School and Wheatley Park School.

It has since been their job to bring that experience back to their own schools and teach other students about one of the most shocking moments in history.

Run by the Holocaust’s Educational Trust the project ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ is run on the premise of ‘hearing is not like seeing’.

Robbie MacKinnon, from St Gregory the Great School in Oxford, said: "I wondered how it was going to impact me emotionally and physically, but coming away now it is genuinely harrowing.

"Seeing the belongings and the suitcases with children's names on was really hard-hitting"

On arrival students first visited O?wi?cim, the town where the Nazi concentration and death camps were located and where - before the war - 58 per cent of the population was Jewish.

After touring a Jewish ceremony, Auschwitz I and Birkenau the day concluded with a memorial service held by Rabbi Barry Marcus.

More than 200 students stood silent before many gave readings and lit candles to lay on the infamous train tracks that lead so many into Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Fellow pupil Olivia Taylor added: "I think it is something everyone will interpret in a different way, for me personally it was quite harrowing and the visit was definitely worthwhile."

Kind Alfred's Academy student Tom Mawdesley said: "The whole experience put things into perspective for me.

“We can never take for granted the freedom that we have."