A HOLOCAUST survivor asked students to promise not to stand-by and watch injustices take place when he visited them to mark Refugee Week.

Harry Bibring told students at Lammas School and Sixth Form in Seymour Road, Leyton, they all had the power to prevent prejudice and discrimination from spreading.

The 91-year-old of Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, was born in Vienna in 1925. He arrived in London as a 13-year-old with his sister Gertie, 15, after the outbreak of WWII.

After he and his sister and mother went into hiding from the Nazis they returned home to find their world turned upside down.

He said: “As we approached our block of flats we saw our father coming from the other direction. He was in a terrible state. Nazis had taken him and other Jewish men to a prison and put 12 of them in a cell for two people.

“They had to sleep leaning against each other. The only time the soldiers opened the door was to kick them and cut their hair. After cleaning himself up he went to our shop only to find it looted. It was the first time I had seen my father cry.”

The siblings were separated from their parents and sent to London believing they would be reunited two months later. But it was the last time they would see their parents.

He told the students how he was welcomed by the community when he arrived to stay with a family in Walthamstow. “The whole street had heard that this kid was coming and the house was full,” he said.

After his parents were evicted from their flat in Vienna because it was in a “Jew-free zone”, his father died of a heart-attack in the back of a van on the way to a concentration camp. Mr Bibring’s mother was gassed to death in Sobibor extermination camp in German-occupied Poland.

He went on to marry, have one son, and work as a lecturer in engineering at Middlesex University.

He added: “The biggest regret that I have, it is unfortunate that my parent weren’t here to see me have the successes in my life.

“I have had a fantastic life and I’m not complaining at all.”

Mr Bibring asked the students to make a pledge to stand up for what is right. “That is what I want from you – a promise to stamp out prejudice. I never use the word racism because there’s only one race in the world and it is called the human race.”

Iqra, a Year 8 student, asked Mr Bibring if he sees any similarities between the thinking of the Nazis and that of Donald Trump. Mr Bibring said he does and called it “dangerous”.

Iqra said: “I thought what an amazing opportunity to meet him so I made sure I did my research. I have always been interested in WWII. Many parts of the past can affect the future.”

Naceema, who is in Year 9, said: “I didn’t really know how the children were separated from their parents before this. I was honoured to have someone who has survived the Holocaust stop by and speak to us.”

Louis, a Year 7 student, said: “Harry has lived through history as a child and it’s very important to remember what happened.”