A HOLOCAUST survivor who has given real life history lessons about the horrors of Nazism to thousands of young people wins recognition in the New Year Honours.

Marc Schatzberger, 93, of Skelton, near York, who receives the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Holocaust education and awareness, has made it his mission to ensure young people across Yorkshire have access to Holocaust survivor testimony.

He has been sharing his experiences with students and young adults for many years and in the past six years alone has spoken to more than 10,000 people.

Year 8 students from Barlby High School, near Selby, heard testimony from him in April as part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET).

Mr Schatzberger was born to Jewish parents in Vienna in 1926. He was an only child, and the family led a comfortable life and when he was 11, he entered a highly regarded grammar school.

However, in 1938, the Nazi party annexed Austria to Germany and almost immediately the vicious racism directed against Jews made it increasingly difficult for his family.

In 1938, his parents took the heartbreaking decision to send their only child, aged 12, away to Britain, on a Kindertransport. In England, Mr Schatzberger was first cared for in a Jewish children’s hostel before being looked after by an uncle and aunt who had been able to gain entry to Britain as domestic servants.

Tragically, while in England, he received news that his parents and other members of his family had perished in Auschwitz.

He married a Viennese Jewish girl, Rosa. In retirement he learnt to make violins, and some of the instruments he made are in frequent use by professional musicians.

Mr Schatzberger said he had been ‘really surprised but very pleased’ to hear he was receiving the honour.

He said that when he went into schools, there was always one reaction from the students:”Without exception, it is always one of rapt attention.” He said he spoke to them about the challenges he had faced as a 12-year-old, leaving a loving family to come to a new country with a different language and a different school system.

He said he wasn’t currently going out to schools because he had been to hospital with a few medical problems but, if he recovered well, as he expected, he would let the trust know and offer his services again.

Barlby High School Principal Julie Caddell said after his visit to the school in April that it had been a privilege to welcome him, saying: “His testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.”

The trust’s chief executive, Karen Pollock, said there could be no better way of educating and engaging students about the Holocaust than through the first-hand testimony of a survivor.

“Marc’s story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing his testimony, students have had the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead,” she added.