Twenty-one Watford Synagogue members have returned from a day trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau determined to raise awareness of the Holocaust.

Led by Rabbi Barry Marcus of the Central Synagogue, the group toured the death camp site before reciting kaddish and lighting memorial candles. There was just time for a brief tour of Krakow and a minchah service in the sole remaining operational synagogue in the once-thriving Jewish quarter.

Group member Melanie Silver commented: "I didn't expect it to affect me so much, but this was one of the most painful days of life. And though it was an emotional experience, it was also a very valuable one."