Holocaust survivor to be immortalised with sculpture

Holocaust survivor Ivor Perl is to be sculpted at Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre in Hendon on Sunday as part of a series to capture the likeness of those who lived through the Shoah.

Perl, who was born in southern Hungary and who was sent to Auschwitz aged 12, will be sculpted by Leeds-born Frances Segelman, who has sculpted The Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

When Perl arrived at Auschwitz, he joined Dr Josef Mengele’s selection line with his brothers and lied, saying he was 16 – a decision that saved his life. He was later transferred to another camp, Allach, where he contracted typhus, before recovering and being marched to Dachau, where he was finally liberated by the Allies.

Ahead of Sunday, Segelman said: “I have recently started a series of sculptures of Holocaust survivors, and Ivor Perl is my latest subject. It is such an honour to sculpt these extraordinary people, in commemoration of those who perished and in recognition of those who survived.”