Surviving the Holocaust: A victim's story

Terry Farago was 16 years-old when she was sent home from school by her headmaster in Budapest, Hungary in March 1942.

German soldiers were invading her country and there was little her or her family, like the millions of Jews who died during the Holocaust, could've done to stop the brutality of what was to come.

On the way home from school, Terry remembers seeing German soldiers marching through the city. She was blissfully unaware of what exactly was going on when she hopped onto the tram and a soldier asked for her ID.

"People were being taken off the bus. They had their identity taken and I realised only afterwards if they were Jewish they were told to get off."

"I suddenly realised I didn't have mine with me. When I changed my satchel for the next day, I left it out by accident so when the soldier came, I was really worried so I apologised. He looked at me and told me I didn't look Jewish - I had fair skin and blonde hair. He said he'll let me get away with it this once. That was the first taste of the trouble"

It was in May 1944 when Terry and her family were visited by German soldiers and sent to the outskirts of Budapest.

On their arrival, they were told to pack enough food and clothing for three days. She remembers arriving at a quarry and on the fourth day, Terry, her family, along with hundreds of other Jews arrived at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

It was during a medical check shortly after they arrived, that Terry saw her family for the last time.

"We had to be examined by a doctor who decided who was fit enough to work and who wasn't. That's how I lost my mother and my sister.

"They were walking behind me when the doctor ordered them to walk one way and me the other. I was reassured by a soldier that later on I could visit them but just for now, my mother and sister had to get on a tram to go to the same camp and later on we'd be reunited.

"But I never saw them again. They were taken straight to the gas chambers."

Terry also recalls seeing her father after being at Auschwitz for a few months. She had been forced to work for hours each day with little or no food.

"I had a glimpse of my father but he didn't recognise me. That was a huge shock. They had shaved my hair. I was so very thin wearing just a rug. I managed to get to him for one second and I looked at him and spoke to him and he just stared back. Nothing. That was the last time I saw my father."

"There were holes in the ceiling of the chambers and you didn't know whether you were going to be gassed or whether water would come out so you could have a shower.

Terry was moved from Auschwitz to another concentration camp and spent a total of 11 months living in cramp, squalid conditions under the reign of Nazi soldiers.

"Czech soldiers eventually came for us and told us the war was over but we couldn't understand them.

"The German soldiers had run away during the night, taking everything with them - food and clothing.

"It wasn't until the morning when we went investigating that we realised the gate was unlocked. And that was it - we left and started to walk home."

Terry weighed just four and a half stone when she left Poland. She says she doesn't blame anyone now for what happened to her under Hitler's rule.

"A son cannot be punished for his father's sin. That is my outlook.

"I was very starved but I never thought I'd die. I talked to God a lot. I always thought I'd be freed. I had a lot of faith in God.

"I never thought I'd live this long. I should be very happy I am here."

See more of Terry's interview tonight on Wales at Six.