Holocaust Memorial Day 2016: Four survivors share moments of kindness amid horror
Four survivors share rare moments of kindness in keeping with the message of this year’s HMD: ‘Don’t stand by’
Eva Clarke
MY MOTHER said she would never forget the look on the farmer’s face as he saw her, a scarcely-living pregnant skeleton weighing about 65 pounds. She said the colour drained from his face as he seemed unable to believe his eyes. An armed SS commander was standing nearby and glared at the farmer until he ran away in shock.
However, he returned around five minutes later with a glass of milk, bravely walking past the commander to hand it to my mother. My mother hated milk. She never drank it before or after – but she gratefully took it from him.
Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up
As she drank, the SS man raised his whip, ready to beat her. And yet for some reason, he lowered it and allowed her to drink. She believed that glass of milk saved her life and, in turn, saved mine.
Freddie Knoller
IN OCTOBER 1943, my name came up for deportation to the east. The train was packed and I found myself squeezed up against a middle-aged Frenchman called Robert. I did my best to take care of him and keep him warm and we became good friends.
The train arrived at Auschwitz and I was selected for work. I realised I had to fight to live and try and adjust myself to the situation.
One day, on a visit to the camp hospital, I saw Robert. He had been put in charge of it and said as I cared for him in the train, he would help me with extra food whenever possible.
I went to the hospital every evening when I returned from work. Because of him, I am alive.
Freda Wineman
I WAS working in Kommando Kanada, sorting through the belongings of those who had arrived in Auschwitz. We tried to bring shoes and underwear to help our friends who were working in terrible conditions in the trenches. It was of course strictly forbidden and one day we were stopped and three of our girls were told to undress and the extra clothing they were smuggling in was found.
As punishment, we all had to witness their execution by hanging. We were taken off Kommando Kanada and made to work in a punishment Kommando in terrible conditions.
There was no food and many died of starvation and maltreatment. One day, three Hungarian sisters who had recently arrived saw our plight and offered me a slice of their bread to share with my friend Janine.
It was such a miracle and they did that for a whole week. I was so grateful for this morsel of food. I never forgot their kindness and their humanity.
Harry Bibring
I WAS born in Vienna in 1925. After the Anschluss of 1938, my sister and I came to Britain on the Kindertransport. We never saw our parents again. In 1951, I returned to my home town, accompanied by my wife Muriel and visited what was my uncle’s shop.
It had been taken over and run by the Nazis before Kristallnacht and recovered by my cousin after the war. I went to see my cousin and one of the shop assistants recognised me as the boy she used to accompany to school. She told me that as my mother was taken away she gave her some things to look after.
The woman asked me to return next day, and I found boxes filled with family possessions, from underwear to jewellery. The amazing thing is the woman didn’t know whether I was alive or where I was living. She didn’t know if I would ever come to Vienna or visit my uncle’s old shop. She kept all these belongings just in case.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
-
By Brigit Grant
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)