A survivor of the 1939 voyage of the SS St Louis shared his story and the inspiration for the Hollywood Blockbuster, Voyage of the Damned, in a recent lecture to St Albans Youth Council.

On Wednesday, March 11, County Councillor Richard Roberts joined St Albans Youth Council in welcoming Gerald Granston to Harpenden Youth Centre, run by Hertfordshire County Council Youth Connexions.

The German ocean liner, the SS St Louis, was most notable for a single voyage, in which her captain, Gustav Shroder, tried to find homes for 915 Jewish refugees from Germany, after they were denied entry to Cuba, the United States and Canada.

Mr Granston's 40 minute talk was followed by a question and answer session, after which the audience were invited to consider their experience of cultural and religious intolerance in 2015, and how the community can be the 'light we wish to see in the world'.

Mr Granston was a small boy when he disembarked with his family to start a new life in the UK - one of only a few families to do so - an opportunity he and his children are extremely grateful he was given.

The 1976 movie Voyage of the Damned was inspired by the 1939 events.

Councillor Roberts said: "Gerald, with his strong and resolute voice took us through his hauntingly evocative and personal experiences of the pain and humiliating terror that befell him as a young Jewish boy in Nazi Germany.

"We were all reduced to reflective silence by a man whose whole being was challenged by, as he said the 'stupid' intolerance and prejudice.

"I cannot thank Gerald and his wife enough for making time for us and to share their incredible journey."