A YOUNG filmmaker has helped a concentration camp survivor fulfil a pledge she made to tell the world about Auschwitz.

Student filmmaker Robin Pepper, from Northallerton, was so moved by Iby Knill’s powerful account of surviving the holocaust in her book, The Woman Without A Number, that he contacted her to see if he could make a documentary.

She agreed and the resulting film of her experience in Auschwitz is to be added to the archives at the Auschwitz Museum in Poland. A Budapest museum has also asked for a copy.

Mr Pepper, 21, who is studying television and film production at Teesside University, said: “One of Iby’s most moving stories related to a promise she made to a twin girl while in Auschwitz. She promised she would tell the world what she had seen. It’s what is still motivating her today.”

Mr Pepper made the film with help from Teesside University colleagues Mark Oxley and Ian Orwin, both from Middlesbrough. They travelled to Auschwitz and Budapest, where Mrs Knill, now aged 89, was captured before being sent to the concentration camp.

Mr Pepper said: “It’s been a real journey, from meeting Iby before we started filming, to interviewing her and travelling to Poland and Hungary to film. The sheer size of Auschwitz-Birkenau really hits you, it was really quite disturbing.

“It’s an honour knowing that we’re now playing a part in helping Iby fulfil her promise to tell the world her story.”

Mrs Knill, who lives in Leeds, said: “The promise I made in July 1944 to tell what had happened lay buried for many years while I got on with ordinary life.

“I eventually wrote a book about it. But it was while working with Robin on his film, his sensitivity and understanding, his ability to pick out the salient points, that I felt that I was fulfiling that promise - to make young people aware of the dangers that the dehumanisation, denigration and differentiation of people can lead to.”