Mayer and his brother Jacob were the only survivors from a family of eight and an extended family of almost 100.

Antisemitism was endemic in Sieradz and verbal and physical abuses were a daily indignity. Even the local priest made a public announcement at the market saying he would not buy from a Jewish stall.

Mayer said: "After that, many Jewish traders went out of business and had to sell out to non-Jews.

"On one occasion a fellow pushed a treife sausage into my mouth."

It was clear that the Nazi's rabid antisemitism fell on fertile ground in Poland.

Mayer was 13 when war broke out and in the spring of 1940 he and Jacob were taken away as slave labourers.

He discovered that his father and sister Kayla, who were tailors, were taken to the Lodz ghetto where they survived for two years.

His mother and younger siblings, who lacked skill required by the Nazis, were transported to Chelmo where they perished in a gassing van.

After surviving the brutal regime of several camps Mayer arrived at Auschwitz in May 1943 as a slave labourer. He said: "I had seen tremendous brutality in three labour camps in Poland. I witnessed torture, beatings that left prisoners for dead and watched 50 hangings at a time. Yet when I arrived at Auschwitz I had to re-learn that this was the most brutal regime that evil man can ever invent.

"It was awe-inspiring. It induced a fear and despair far worse than any other place."

Miraculously he survived for 18 months during the height of the extermination of the Jews.

Mayer and other survivors were too traumatised and too busy rebuilding their lives to talk about the Holocaust for three decades.

Today, Mayer spends two days a week telling his story to schoolchildren and teaching them the lessons of history.

The 60th anniversary of the Russian army's liberation of Auschwitz brings back many dark memories for him. But it also affords him the opportunity of meeting the Queen and Prince Philip at St James's Palace on Thursday.

How did Mayer feel about meeting Royalty when some of their predecessors were Nazi sympathisers?

Mayer diplomatically replied: "One has to remember that members of the Duke of Edinburgh's family in Greece helped Jews survive."

He added: "If Prince Harry had spoken to his grandfather or father he could have learnt a lot about the swastika."

Mayer, like the vast majority of Jews, is fiercely loyal to the country that gave him refuge.

Was there insufficient Holocaust education?

"Holocaust education is there it just does not reach everyone," he remarked.

Was Mayer surprised that 45 per cent of the British public had not heard of Auschwitz?

Mayer replied: "More have heard of Belsen because the British liberated that camp."

Why was there 30 years of silence about the Holocaust after the war?

"People were not interested, they wanted to forget about it. The survivors could discuss it among themselves but the subject was too painful to air with others.

"Sometimes we would even joke and out-do each other with the brutality we suffered. It was therapeutic."

Did Spielberg's film Schindler's List bring the Holocaust into the open?

"Yes, it did," Mayer said. "Many survivors, who had never recorded anything, eventually realised it was important to document for posterity and for the community in general and learn from the past."

How did he view the re-emergence of antisemitism today?

"One thing is certain if we do nothing it will not go away. We have to fight it," Mayer said.

After all he suffered as a Jew, how did Mayer retain his faith?

He said: "What shall I do? Live without faith? I can't put my trust in human nature again. I go to synagogue each week not just to pray but for the comfort of being with fellow Jews."

Why did he think he survived when so many perished? Were there qualities that the survivors possessed?

Most of the killings were random, according to Mayer. But he added: "Making quick decisions was important. If you ran with the flock it would not save you. You had to think quickly, but this was hard when you were de-humanised and starving."

On one occasion Mayer jumped out of the barrack window when asked to leave. When the guard came round the back to look for him he jumped back in. The whole of the barrack was gassed in a van.

He said luck was a third factor. All the prisoners looked equally ill and emaciated when they stood shivering and naked at selection roll call.

Interestingly, Mayer challenged the total of one million Jewish deaths of Auschwitz. He thought significantly more were slaughtered.

He said: "Between April and August 1944, 400,000 Hungarian Jews were killed.

"More than 10,000 Jews arrived crammed into trains twice a day seven days a week. Jews came from France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Slovakia as well as Poland."

Mayer worked on the construction of a new part of the camp called Mexico, designed for Jews and political prisoners from Britain.

Recently, Mayer has spoken to students at Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk, and young adults at Lancaster University's teacher training colleges.

He said young people were "awed and daunted" by his story.

But there were not enough survivors to meet demand for talks and they would not be around for ever.

Mayer said: "Jews must make sure the subject is taught well and support Holocaust education. The second and third generation has to take over.

"Jews should not relinquish responsibility for Holocaust education or it could be edged out of events such as Holocaust Education Day. We have to be actively involved.

"We must learn from history. We are not just here to shed tears."

Looking back on his life so far, Mayer Hersh said: "I never thought I would reach the age of 17, and yet thank God I have reached the age I am."