IT was a journey that would save her life but little did Anne Ranasinghe know, as she gazed longingly at her father through the train window, it would be the last time she ever saw him.

It was at just 13 years of age that Anne - an only child from a Jewish family - took this brave step into the unknown.

Living in the German town of Essen under the rule of the Nazi dictator Hitler no Jew was safe.

And it was with this knowledge that Anne's parents arranged for her escape to the safety of Parkstone in Poole. An aunt, no more than a stranger, paid for Anne, then Annaliese Katz, to flee the country in 1939.

She could not know that this trip abroad would secure her survival but tragically result in her final departure from her family and friends.

"My mother did not come to the station with us - she stayed at the house" said Anne. "My father boarded the train with me but was forced to get off at the border. I remember looking out of the window and seeing him. The train began to move and that was it - I never saw him again."

Anne's parents fought hard to leave Germany but sadly failed.

In October 1941 they were caught by the Nazis and deported to Poland where they lived for two-and-a-half years in what Anne describes as "terrible circumstances".

Their only contact with their young daughter during this period was via the limited space on a postcard - five in total - all of which Anne treasures.

Unknown to her at the time this would be Anne's only contact with her loved ones trapped in a world of persecution and prejudice.

On July 10, 1944 they were taken to the death camp Chelmno where they tragically met their deaths. For years Anne knew nothing of her parents' fate.

It was only through a book she read many years later that she discovered how they had been killed - herded into a lorry and poisoned with its exhaust gas. The dead or dying victims were then driven to a forest and dumped.

"You never forget it," said Anne. "You live with it for the rest of your life and it influences your thinking and your actions."

The suffering endured by her parents was never told to Anne as a child and she lived with the misery of not knowing.

Yet in spite of this torment she refused to be beaten. She joined Parkstone Grammar School and bravely overcame language barriers, differences in currency and day-to-day regimes to become a highly thought-of student.

"I knew no English and my first lesson was a history lesson on Queen Elizabeth I but I knew nothing about her," she said. "My teachers were fantastic though and helped me tremendously - they were very patient."

Anne's persistence and dedication paid off and after completing her exams she later married and moved to Sri Lanka.

At 77 she is now an established writer penning many of her childhood memories through poetry. "It certainly helps me to get it out of my system but it does not mean it goes away," she said. "It just means that you can look it in the eye."

To celebrate her work and her time at Parkstone Grammar Anne - a mother-of-seven and grandmother-of-six - returned to the school yesterday to share her memories.

Students from Ashdown School and Parkstone Grammar listened intently as she spoke of her childhood and unveiled the torment suffered by her family and friends in the Second World War.

The visit also provided the opportunity for Anne to reacquaint herself with her contemporaries including Mary Blacker from Corfe Mullen, Gwen Chapman from Poole and Elaine Stock from Winton.

Gillian Clarke, head of English at Parkstone Grammar, was delighted by the success of Anne's visit. "It was wonderful, just amazing," she said. "It was a really positive experience for the girls and a nice reunion for Anne and her former schoolmates."