Howard tells of 'harrowing' family tragedy at Auschwitz

Michael Howard, the Tory leader, has told how his grandmother died at Auschwitz - and that his aunt and uncle narrowly escaped the same fate.

Michael Howard, the Tory leader, has told how his grandmother died at Auschwitz - and that his aunt and uncle narrowly escaped the same fate.

In a candid interview to be broadcast tomorrow, the Conservative leader relates how his aunt narrowly escaped death in Hitler's gas chambers. She was miraculously spared death three times - once because the killing chamber ran out of gas.

Mr Howard, who is not thought to have spoken publicly of his family's ordeal at the hands of the Nazis before, says that as a boy he found the events "pretty harrowing".

In an interview for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, the Conservative leader said his aunt later came to stay with Mr Howard's family in Wales where he grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household. His father, Bernat Hecht, was a synagogue cantor who emigratedfrom Romania in the 1930s.

The Conservative leader also revealed that he nearly became a Nashville radio DJ, is a big fan of the Beatles and has a romantic side. One of his castaway selections was Bryan Adams' romantic ballad, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", which was the theme tune to the Kevin Costner movie, Robin Hood.

The Tory leader's appearance on Desert Island Discs will be seen as an attempt to broaden his appeal after what has been a disappointing few weeks politically. On Tuesday, Mr Howard and his wife Sandra will join Philip Schofield and Fern Britton for a live interview on ITV1's This Morning.

Mr Howard, told the presenter, Sue Lawley, that he did not believe his family's ordeal at the hands of the Nazis had served to strengthen his family's faith.

"I don't think it did. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home and so there was a great deal of Jewish consciousness in the home but the Holocaust affected people in different ways," he said. "In some cases, it made people want to forget that they were Jewish and in other cases, it strengthened it. In my aunt's case, I don't think it had either of those effects but it did ruin her life, unsurprisingly."

The Conservative leaderalso revealed during the show that he had not been hurt by Ann Widdecombe's famously acerbic comment that he had "something of the night about him". The remark is widely thought to have scuppered his chances in the 1997 Tory leadership contest won by William Hague. "You go into politics with your eyes open," he said. "You have to take these things on the chin."

Asked whether he had forgiven Ms Widdecombe, Howard replied: "Oh yes, we've had several perfectly friendly conversations since then."

Mr Howard said he was surprised to become Tory leader a year ago. "I was astonished." he said. "If we'd been sitting here a year ago and you'd told me that I'd be sitting here today as leader of the Conservative Party, I'd have said that you were prone to fantasies."

The Tory leader also disclosed he almost did not go into politics and toyed with becoming a Nashville radio DJ instead while in the United States for a year as a young man. "I had a friend who had a friend, who ran a radio station in Nashville who said they would love to have someone with an English accent do a stint as a DJ. And I must admit that the prospect of being a DJ in Nashville did have its attractions but I knew that I wanted to come back," he said.