Unspeakable Tragedy: Last Holocaust Survivors Recount Nightmares of Auschwitz
Seven British Holocaust Survivors Share their Emotional Journey
Legacy of the Survivors: Haunting Memories and Anti-Semitism Today
STANDING in front of the gates of hell at the entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp, seven Holocaust survivors are among the last to bear witness to the inhuman brutality of the Nazis. It may be eight decades since they rebuilt their lives in Britain, but their legacy is to re-tell the nightmares that haunt them as anti-Semitism once again rises across Europe. Now in their 80s and 90s, they are acutely aware this may be their last trip to commemorate the 1.1 million who were gassed, worked, or starved to death at the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex in Nazi-occupied Poland. Yet they fight emotional and physical frailty to share their stories in the hope that such suffering will never happen again.
Taking a Stand Against Anti-Semitism
In the three months after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 last year, British Jews faced 2,699 incidents of anti-Semitism. That compares with 392 incidents over the same period in 2022.
Jacques Weisser, 82, was seven months old when his mother Martha was murdered at Auschwitz in 1942. He said: “We shouldn’t be afraid, because we live in a democratic society, but I fear something like the Holocaust could happen again. “We have not learned our lesson.” Jacques, who lives near Watford, added: “Hate helps no one. “We need to try to understand each other and love each other. “The human race has a lot going for it, but somehow there’s always a doubt we haven’t yet seen the light.”
Terror and Resilience: Survivors Speak Out
Martin Stern MBE recalls the terror of spending a year in a concentration camp after his family were arrested by the Gestapo when he was five. His architect father Rudolph survived Auschwitz but died at Buchenwald concentration camp in March 1945. Martin, 85, from North London, described the recent increase in anti-Semitism as “terrifying” as protesters march the streets with incendiary placards and swastikas in support of the Palestinian people.
Under the infamous sign above the entrance to Auschwitz — Arbeit Macht Frei, or “Work sets you free” — the survivors shared their horrific experiences before joining thousands of people on the annual commemorative March of the Living. Yesterday’s event on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day saw 6,000 people walk just over a mile from Auschwitz to its sister camp Birkenau. This year marked the 80th anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust.
Heartbreaking Stories of Survival
Among the seven British Holocaust survivors taking part in the walk was Barbara Frankiss, 85, who now lives in North London. During the war, she spent months hiding behind a wardrobe in the day and sleeping on a straw mattress at night after her mother paid a Polish family to take her in when they fled the Warsaw ghetto in 1942. Ordered not to move for fear she would be discovered, five-year-old Barbara spent her days licking her finger to draw pictures with saliva on the back of the wardrobe. The Gestapo later raided the apartment block where she was hiding, and her mother was among a group of Jews who were marched out of the basement.
Courage and Strength Amidst Adversity
Barbara recalled: “There was such a commotion when the Gestapo arrived. “They were checking every house so I had to pretend I belonged to the family who was hiding me.“I went outside and heard screaming and then shots. “Later I found out my mother was among those from the basement lined up and shot.”
Former GP Alfred Garwood, 81, from East London, was one of the few Jews whose immediate family survived the Bergen-Belsen camp where more than 70,000 died. His father, Solle Garfinkle, was a camp barber who spoke seven languages and used his linguistic skills to appease the infamous Nazi guard Irma Grese, who had also served at Ravensbruck and Auschwitz, which helped to keep his family alive.
Remembering the Past
Alfred dedicated his life to helping childhood Holocaust survivors and has also worked with torture victims. He said: “Being at Auschwitz has left me humbled and deeply moved. “We must never forget.”
Retired scientist Peter Lantos, 84, of North West London, was deported from Hungary aged four and sent to a ghetto before being sent to Bergen-Belsen in December 1944. He became prisoner number 8431 and recalled: “I remember being hungry, the bitter cold, and the boredom of being a then five-year-old in a concentration camp. “My father died of starvation at Belsen, and as a family, we lost 21 — as many as 16 at Auschwitz — including a cousin the same age as me.”