Queen Mathilde of Belgium has paid a poignant visit to the Kazerne Dossin memorial and museum where she met a Holocaust survivor who escaped being taken to Auschwitz at the age of 11.

Simon Gronowski, now 86, and his mother were among those packed on to a cattle train bound for Auschwitz in 1943 when he jumped to freedom.

Today the Belgian Queen spent time touring the memorial with Mr Gronowski and listening to his story.

The museum stands near the site of the 18th century Dossin barracks in Mechelen from where 25,484 Jews were deported to Auschwitz between 1942 and 1944.

Mathilde, 45, who was understated in a black and white floral dress visited the exhibition Neighbours 2018, which chronicles he daily life of the Hasidic Jews of Antwerp.

It combines photos by Dan Zollman with excerpts from the book Mazel Tov by Margot Vanderstraeten.

Queen Mathilde of Belgium spent time with Holocaust survivor Simon Gronowski, 86, at the Kazerne Dossin memorial and museum today

The monarch was understated in a black and white floral dress for the visit

Clearly moved by her visit, the Queen stayed at the museum for an hour longer than planned.

Mr Gronowski was among those held at the camp with his mother Channa after his father had managed to escape the Gestapo.

He hoped to rejoin his father and after hearing about people leaping off trains, he used his bunk bed in the Nazi camp to practice jumping in preparation for his own escape.

He had some luck when Belgian resistance fighters managed to get on the train taking him to Auschwitz, and the young boy was encouraged to jump during the raid, which freed 17 Jews from the train.

Queen Mathilde heard how Mr Gronowski escaped Auschwitz by jumping from a cattle train when it was stormed by the Belgian resistance

The Queen was visibly moved by the visit and spent an hour longer than planned at the museum

A group of men in Gronowski's wagon were able to force open the door, but with the train building speed, the young boy paused while hesitating.

Taking the jump off the train, his mother's last words to him were that the train was going too fast. While he survived, his mother was murder in Auschwitz shortly after.

He told the BBC in 2013: 'My mother held me by my shirt and my shoulders. But at first, I did not dare to jump because the train was going too fast for me.

The Queen also took in the exhibition Neighbours 2018, which chronicles he daily life of the Hasidic Jews of Antwerp

The exhibit combines photos by Dan Zollman with excerpts from the book Mazel Tov by Margot Vanderstraeten

'I saw the trees go by and train was getting faster. The air was crisp and cool and the noise was deafening. I remember feeling surprised that it could go so fast with 35 cars being towed.

'But then at a certain moment, I felt the train slow down. I told my mother: 'Now I can jump.' She let me go and I jumped off.

'First I stood there frozen, I could see the train moving slowly forward - it was this large black mass in the dark, spewing steam.'

He was the only survivor from his family and became a lawyer after the war.