TEN Holocaust survivors reunited to replicate a unique photo taken 74 years ago in Prague after they were liberated from concentration camps.

Along with the survivors, more than 200 family members, made up of four generations, from all corners of the world showed up to be captured in the poignant picture.

The original photograph, taken in 1945, pictured 300 Jewish Holocaust survivors after they were freed by the Russians from the hands of their captors in Czechoslovakia.

Shortly after that moment was snapped, the 300 boys and girls were flown by the RAF to the Lake District to recuperate before embarking on a fresh start.

The children lived in the ‘lost’ wartime village of Calgarth Estate, located at Troutbeck Bridge near Windermere.

Trevor Avery, founder of the Lake District Holocaust Project, came across the original photo 15 years ago. He said to go to Prague and re-stage the original picture was “a bit like time travel”.

“I’m still trying to filter everything that’s happened over the past couple of days,” he said.

“The fact this photo was taken 74 years later is still hard to grasp, and it’s not something that can be repeated.

“I think the Lake District underestimates this story. What might have been a simple gesture of kindness to the youngsters was actually life-changing for them.

“These survivors are the glue that binds the whole story together, and it’s all credit to them and their families for making this opportunity possible.”

Among those in the re-staged photo was Denise Kienwald who came to represent her mother Minia Jay. She said at the time the original photo was taken her mother was suffering from tuberculosis.

“What an incredibly meaningful experience we all had this weekend,” she said. “It does feel so surreal that it happened at all.”

TV judge Robert Rinder also came to pay tribute to his grandfather, who was one of the survivors. The BBC documentary, Who Do You Think You Are, which followed Mr Rinder’s journey in learning about his grandfather, won a BAFTA Television Award on Sunday.

On their visit to Prague the survivors and family members also received a special visit from a familiar face.

Norman Shepherd, the only surviving member of the 196 RAF squadron, was the young pilot who flew the Holocaust survivors in August 1945 to England.

He was a flight engineer and was only 18 years old at the time.

It took Mr Avery ten years to track him down.

“When the survivors first met Norman, they were a bit scared because he was a man in uniform,” said Mr Avery. “But he began handing out chocolate to them, and such a simple kind act like that was something the children were never going to forget.

“I don’t think he realises how much he meant to these youngsters.”

Seventy-four years later, Mr Shepherd was once again seen handing out chocolate to the survivors.

Rose Smith, senior advisor at the Holocaust Project, based at Windermere Library, described the event as “incredibly moving”.

“Everyone was there for the same purpose,” she said. “It was incredibly moving and we will never have anything like this again, four generations of survivors coming together.”