To mark Holocaust Memorial Day which takes place on Monday the 27th January, we have had a full programme of events taking place this week. On Monday, Year 9 and 10 had the privilege of listening to the story of Holocaust survivor Ivor Perl, aided by his granddaughter Lia. Ivor was just 12 years old when he was taken to Auschwitz, and he survived with the help of his older brother. His story is particularly poignant as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. On Wednesday, Year 11 heard from Hephzi Rudovsky, daughter of Lady Zahava Kohn. Lady Zahava sadly passed away in 2022, but her daughter Hephzi continues to deliver their education programme ‘Surviving the Holocaust’ to schools across the UK and Germany. Hephzi recounts how her mother and her family were deported to Westerbork in 1943, leaving behind Zahava’s 16-month-old brother with a woman in the Dutch resistance. Later, the family were sent to Bergen-Belsen and were finally ‘exchanged’ in 1945 and sent to Switzerland. The family survived the Holocaust and were reunited with Zahava’s brother, finally settling in Amsterdam. On Thursday, the Sixth Form heard from Michael Bibring, son of Harry Bibring, an Austrian refugee. Harry sadly passed away in 2019 at the age of 95, but his son recounted how at the age of 13, his father was placed on the Kindertransport bound for Britain. In England, Harry met his wife-to-be Muriel in 1945 and enjoyed a career as an engineer and full-time lecturer, based in Bushey. After Muriel passed away in 2009, Harry “reinvented” himself and dedicated his remaining years to educating people about the Holocaust.

It was a privilege to have hosted each of the speakers this week and an honour to listen to their stories of courage, resilience and survival. The overriding thing that each speaker stressed was the importance of learning from the past, speaking out against hatred and practicing respect and tolerance to try and ensure something like the Holocaust never happens again. All of the students who listened to their stories were inspired and engaged, underlined by the breadth and quality of the questions they got the opportunity to ask at the end of each session.