HOLOCAUST Memorial Day was marked in Gwent with an inspirational speech from an elderly survivor yesterday.

Janine Webber spoke to around 40 police officers and staff at Gwent Police HQ, for the anniversary of the liberation of concentration camp Auschwitz.

The memorial is annually observed on January 27 and Ms Webber, 80, said she was pleased to come to Gwent the day after to tell her story.

While living in Nazi-occupied Poland as a Jew, her family's flat was seized by the Germans and they were transferred to a ghetto.

Her father, grandmother and seven-year-old brother were killed, her mother died from an illness but an SS soldier saved Ms Webber's life.

She was one of just a handful of 120,000 Jews in Lvov to escape death.

Superintendent Dave Johnson listened to the account in an audience that included Gwent's PCC Ian Johnston.

Supt Johnson said the aim of the day was to build bridges with the community and develop the service they provide to crime victims.

He added it linked with hate crime and how it is tackled.

Ms Webber said: "I am just hoping that people will learn to be a bit more tolerant towards minorities."