Inspirational People - One in a Million

This blogpost is about some people who have truly and deeply inspired me. They are normal people, like you and I. They were thrown into extraordinary circumstances and they survived; some through escape, some through rescue, some by chance. The people in this blogpost are now elderly people and I consider them friends. Their stories tell also, that they are holocaust survivors. Survivors who each represent one million people like themselves, who did not live to share their story.

Freddie Knoller

The first holocaust survivor I ever met, was back in 2011. His name is Freddie Knoller. He sat among 200 young people like myself who were taking part in the Holocaust Educational Trust's 'Lessons From Auschwitz' programme and told of his survival story, from his upbringing in Vienna, to fleeing through France and Belgium, from fighting in the French Resistance to his time in the Auschwitz 3 concentration camp. He is now 93yrs old and although his story is amazing, it is his strength and qualities that I admire most. For example, he is a fine cello player, stemming from his days as a cellist alongside brothers Otto, a pianist and Erich, a violinist. I was lucky enough to witness his cello playing first hand, with a rendition of 'God Save the Queen'... during an interview I filmed with him at his North London home last year. Not only that, but Freddie has style too, modelling some fine grey Converse All Stars beneath his suit... and safe to say that he hasn't lost his sense of humour either! He has a family, including two daughters and a grandson and his wish is that his grandson will know of his story. The words that stick out prominently in my mind from my interview with Freddie, is this 'I will never forgive the Nazis for what they have done, and I will never forget'. How could you forget? And yet here you are, sitting on a sofa opposite me and my camera telling me all of the painful details of your experience? Freddie, in my mind, is an exceedingly strong and passionate man with an affection for childlike humour that brings fire to his eyes and makes anyone feel welcome in his company. This I admire and I feel privileged to have heard his story first-hand. You can watch the film we made together here: https://vimeo.com/97562791

Ruth Barnett - www.wlv.ac.uk

The second holocaust survivor I ever met was in Jan 2012, after a speech I'd made at the Lord Merlyn-Rees Memorial Lecture at Portcullis House. Ruth Barnett is a wonderful character who you can always count on to ask challenging questions and put you, or the politician next to you, to the test. I was approached by many survivors at the event, who thanked me for speaking about my experiences on the Lessons From Auschwitz Programme and for sharing a poem I'd written with them. Ruth was the final survivor to approach me and what she said was this, 'Who are the most targeted communities in the modern day?' - I had not been ready for a question like this and I admitted heavily, 'I don't know'. She replied 'Well, I'll tell you. It's the Romani Gypsies'. Before this I had not heard of the Roma, but the fact that this seemed so important to Ruth led me home to Google, where I discovered a whole other dimension to the holocaust story. In Jan 2013, I formulated the plan for a documentary about the holocaust and it's relevance to examples of injustice and discrimination today. I have Ruth to thank for mentioning the Roma to me, as they are perhaps the best example within the film of pre-war rhetoric, making a return to modern day Europe. It astounds me that Ruth is so insistent on telling of others misfortune when her own story of leaving everything she knew behind, to escape on the Kindertransport in 1939, is so astonishing. Her book title 'Person of No Nationality', suggests a scarring journey of lost identity and confusion. I think Ruth is an absolute inspiration. Her passion for continuing to alert people of discrimination and to challenge us all to play a part in its prevention, is simply brilliant.

Zigi Shipper

Zigi Shipper was the third survivor I was privileged to meet. It was at King's College London at an event organised by Gameli Ladzekpo, a fellow Regional Ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust. I'd arranged to interview Zigi on camera after the event and here asked him questions about why it was so important for holocaust education to continue and for young people to learn about his story like so many others. His reply is always the same, 'they MUST learn about it. Why is it necessary to hate? I don't hate anybody. Hate will rip you apart.' I think it's pretty amazing that someone who was a victim of a regime like that of the Nazi's can turn around to a room filled with people and say he does not hate. He may not forgive his oppressors but not does he HATE them, and that to me, is something special. Zigi is one of the most committed survivors I have met. He has been at every event I've ever been to and his every week is filled with speaking in schools throughout the country. He is convinced that young people are the key to a better future and he speaks to us with such passion that we can't help but believe him. Whatever good comes out of the ambassador programme at HET, Zigi will without a doubt, have played a role in that success. His relentless commitment astounds me and I truly admire his 'get up and go' attitude. If you'd like to hear his testimony then please spare an hour to watch the video below:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynyxISzTJY8&list=UUZbiXR5VygbtcLisgQJ1b2g

Susan Pollack

Susan Pollack was the fourth survivor I had the pleasure to meet. I'd seen her in a short appeal film for the Holocaust educational trust and enquired about whether she would be interested in appearing in my film. I was so lucky that Susan agreed to partake as I feel that her testimony adds the emotive depth I really needed. She told her story so passionately, she allowed me and my crew into her home and would simply not allow us to leave without a cup of tea and some cake. Her kindness made me feel so welcome and as if we had been friends for years. Susan is someone I really admire and someone I place immense value on having the pleasure to have met. We write to each other on occasion, Susan pretty much remains the only person I physically write to. She is such a warm person to be around and every time I see her at an event she welcomes me with a smile. She too is passionate about holocaust education and is very often at every event I attend. Susan is one among a group of ladies who always make the effort to make an appearance. They help to make it feel like we are a part of a community and that is something I feel extremely privileged to consider myself a part of. You can watch the film we made together here: https://vimeo.com/97562791

Esther shared her story with the above Ambassadors

The fifth survivor I met in person was Esther Schlesinger during a visit with approximately 20 young people like myself, to Yad Vashem, Israel. Her story was unlike those we'd heard before in that she did not experience life in the camps but instead was taken from ghetto to gentile farm, from safe house to safe house. The story of he and her sister's survival is extraordinary. As she speaks she is extremely honest. She recalls one painfully vivid turn of events - One evening, the Nazis stormed the safe house she was staying in holding them at rifle point. Panic erupted, if people fell they were trampled on, they were running over dead people. Bodies fell, her aunt, her mother and herself fall injured. All dead bodies are loaded onto a truck, Esther among them. It begins to rain and the blood of others soaks through and rains on Esther's body, blood falling in her eyes. Esther remembers her aunt checking her pulse. As the driver took them to be dumped, he stopped at a pub for a drink on his way home. He parked the wagon and left. Then another Nazi uniform emerged and muttered, 'don't be afraid, I am taking you to Jewish ghetto, they'll take care of you'. He was Jewish. He reached into the bundle of bodies and pulled Esther out. She does not recall the pain that she felt that night, only the gentile voice of the man cradling her saying 'Little girl, don't die'. This is only one moment of her story and it left me speechless. Not only does she recall flawlessly the memories she posses but she refrains to comment on any other part of the holocaust story that she did not personally witness. I think this adds a huge amount of honesty to Esther's testimony and even more to her will to forget those moments of the past she would rather not remember and continue to rebuild her life now. 

Esther as a child (second from left)
“I had an incredible childhood, full of acceptance, joy and the knowledge that I was beloved and wanted. The memory of this feeling is what I have been trying all my life to recreate, and through it to dull the pain of being orphaned, and of the Holocaust.” http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/newsletter/13/new_yv2.pdf

I personally find Esther's dedication to recreate that feeling of being home, is one to marvel at. She tells of so many horrors that I admire her desire to just live her life in peace, among friends and family whilst  still being committed to telling her story, that will only ever be a painful one to recall. There was a moment where Esther could not tell her story herself and instead, asked one of our young ambassadors to read it out for her. This shows how vivid the pain is for Esther, and I thank her for her strength to share it with us.

Jack Kagan

The last survivor testimony I have heard in person, is that of Jack Kagan. Jack spoke to over 400 students, teachers and young ambassadors for the Holocaust Educational Trust, at The Ambassador Conference 2014 (#AmCon2014). Jack's story was also different from those of the holocaust testimonies I was used to hearing. Jack was born in 1929 and lived in a small Polish village. In 1941 the village was occupied by the Nazis and at 12yrs old Jack moved into the ghetto before being moved to a labour camp. In 1943, Jack escaped the confines of the camp and fled towards the rumoured partisan camp. On his first attempt, he had to run across an icy river, where his foot fell through and his feet became frostbitten. He returned to the camp, where friends carried out the horrendous procedure of amputating his toes. Of course, there was no anaesthetic and Jack had nothing but the grinding of his own teeth to keep him from screaming too loud and alerting the Nazis. He then escaped again, in a tunnel beneath the camp, before hobbling in pain towards the forest where he finally joined the 'Bielski Partisans' as depicted in the film 'Defiance'. He describes an ethic of 'nothing is for free' as each partisan worked to keep the other alive. There were squabbles as partisans came from all backgrounds but ultimately, the community is the thing that saved them. Jack is the only surviving member of the Bielski Partisans in the UK. His story is one that truly inspired me. He described how survival became your only instinct and I find his strength, in extraordinary circumstances, to flee to the partisan camp awe-inspiring. I intend to find out more about Jack's story in his book 'We Stood Shoulder to Shoulder'.


And so, here exists a post about the six holocaust survivors who I have met in person and who have completely inspired me. In each of them, I find an incomprehensible strength and passion, not just for their survival of the past but in the continuance of their work to tell others of their experiences. It is these faces that I picture when I continue to learn about the holocaust. 6million Jews were murdered during the years of the holocaust, it could so easily have been Freddie, Ruth, Zigi, Susan, Esther or Jack among them. These 6 survivors, are the absolute proof that the victims are not just numbers among millions. Each of them, represents one million Jewish people, people who were like themselves, people who were friends and family members, people of all ages, from all across Europe. These six survivors represent the men, women and children, who perished during the holocaust. They were people, like you and me. They feel fear as we do. They have felt pain, as we have, albeit ours may not compare. They have families, as we do. Most of all, they love, as we do and have a belief in a future where the young people they have shared their stories with, will continue to learn from them and work to create a world where prejudice, segregation, persecution and most importantly genocide, will not and could not exist.