We must learn lessons from the past to avoid history repeating itself as we mark 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz - Laura Collins, YEP Editor

It’s hard to comprehend the sheer scale of the human cost of life during mankind’s biggest atrocity, the Holocaust.

But imagine if over a period of five years the whole population of Leeds and Bradford was wiped out.

About the same number of people, 1.2million, were needlessly killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau from 1940 to 1945.

Nearly a decade ago I joined a group of school children from Yorkshire to see firsthand the horror of Auschwitz.

The looming gate tower was a striking landmark rising up on the horizon among the miles of barbed wire and wooden camp huts were prisoners where forced to live in the most inhumane manner.

We walked into one of the cremation chambers and the sight that struck me the most were the nail marks on the wall. Those who tried to fight for survival had fought until the bitter end - it is something I will never forget.

Another striking memory was simply the faces of those who were killed in the camps.

The wall of one of the huts was lined with photographs of those who were experimented for medical purposes at the camp. Their identity had been stripped away and all that remained was their camp number - two young girls numbers differed by a simple digit. They looked alike. Were they sisters? But it is vital that their stories continue to live on.

The very real cost was bought home with case after case of human hair, glasses, suitcases and shoes collected from those who left the train on their arrival at the camp as they were torn from their families unaware if they would ever see each other again.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. And the survivors who managed to flee from the edge of darkness are now becoming fewer and fewer as the years roll on.

That is why events such as the Holocaust Memorial Day held in Leeds yesterday is so vital. Hundreds of Holocaust survivors, heads of state and political leaders are set to gather at the concentration camp today to mark its liberation by Soviet soldiers.

We need to ensure the story of persecution and discrimination and its unfounded impact continues to be told to generations to come. It is only by remembering those very real personal stories of escape, life in the ghettos and the sheer horror of the concentration camps that we can ensure history never repeats itself.

Discourse in society continues to be tempered and flared and there is a very real fear that the seeds of hatred continue to be sown across divides - be they political, religious or intolerance.

But we must stop and remember the lessons of the past to guide the future.

It is on all of us to ensure that atrocities, such as the Holocaust, must never be allowed to happen again.

We must always remember.