Students from Woodford Green stood among the capital's leading dignitaries during a poignant ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day. 

Dominic Hartfree-Pearce and Aileen Sartor, both 16, of Woodbridge High School in Saint Barnabas Road, presented a banner created by sixth formers to Mayor Boris Johnson at City Hall yesterday. 

The ceremony attended by MPs, London Assembly members and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, commemorated the eve of the 70th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation. 

The teenagers were joined by head of sociology Simon Shaw, as they held up high the banner with the slogan 'Six million individuals died in the Holocaust, each had a name, each had a story'.  

Mr Shaw said: "This year's celebration will be the last significant anniversary that will hear first-hand witness statements.

"The students' banner chimed with the oration from the chief rabbi who talked about the way that the Nazis had attempted to turn their victims into numbers.  

"The message from Monday's celebration was one of hope and unity, but also of the need for vigilance against those who will always attempt to exploit divisions between people."

Mr Johnson read from the notebook of a Jewish captive at Auschwitz, and Rabbi Mirvis addressed the audience with a memorial prayer.