Students from Somervale School, Midsomer Norton, have been hearing a first-hand account of one of the most horrific periods in history.

More than 75 students listened to Holocaust survivor Walter Kammerling talk about his personal experiences as part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Mr Kammerling was among thousands of Jewish children evacuated from Austria under the Kindertransport scheme. He was born in 1923 in Vienna and was 14 when Nazi Germany occupied Austria.

He told the young people at the school how he witnessed the events of November 9 and 10, 1938, known as Kristallnacht, when across Germany and Austria, Jewish synagogues, shops, businesses and homes were attacked and destroyed, with hundreds of Jewish men arrested or murdered.

Mr Kammerling's parents decided to send him to Britain on the Kindertransport. The age limit for this was 16, and Mr Kammerling was 15, but his sisters, being 17 and 18, could not join him.

The eldest managed to get a domestic permit where the lower age limit was 18.

The younger sister, however, was too old for the Kindertransport and too young to get a domestic work permit. She had to stay in Vienna and was sent to Theresienstadt, and subsequently to Auschwitz along with Mr Kammerling's parents.

The Somervale students then held a question and answer session with Mr Kammerling, asking questions of his experiences before, during and after the Holocaust.

Humanities teacher Ros Fielder said: "It is a privilege for us to welcome Walter Kammerling to our school and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.

"We are grateful to the Holocaust Educational Trust for co-ordinating the visit and we hope that by hearing Walter's testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives."

The visit was part of the trust's schools outreach programme.