Wetherby High School welcomes Holocaust survivor
A HOLOCAUST survivor visited Wetherby High School last week to help pupils understand more about his harrowing experience.
Eugene Black recalled his story before answering questions put to him by the history students as part of a visit organised through the Holocaust Educational Trust.
Wetherby MP Colin Burgon was also invited to hear Mr Black's testimony at the Hallfield Lane school.
History teacher Charlotte Giles said: "It is a privilege for us to welcome Eugene Black to our school and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.
"We are grateful to the Holocaust Educational Trust for co-ordinating the visit and we hope that by hearing Eugene's testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and to make a positive difference in their own lives."
Mr Black was born in a small town in Czechoslovakia, which in 1938 became part of Hungary.
His town had approximately 120,000 residents, of which 30,000 were Jewish. In March 1944, all of the Jews were forced into a ghetto.
Soon after being placed in the ghetto, Mr Black and his family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, along with the other Jews from his town, and within 15 minutes of arriving Mr Black was separated from his mother, father and two sisters, all of whom were sent directly to the gas chamber.
Mr Black was held at the camp for a short time before being sent by train to Buchenwald, and from there to Dora-Mittleband, where he was made a slave labourer for five months working on V1 and V2 rockets.
From Dora, he was transferred to yet another camp but he developed pneumonia and was sent to the camp hospital.
While in hospital he was nursed back to health by a Nazi Wehrmacht officer, who ultimately saved his life.
As the Allies advanced, Mr Black was deported, first by train and then on foot, to Bergen-Belsen, where he was liberated by the British Army on April, 15 1945, when he was just 17.
After he was liberated, Eugene was able to meet up with a friend from whom he had been separated in summer 1944.
The two were then befriended by a member of the British Medical Corps, who arranged for them to join the British Army, in the regiment that had liberated Bergen-Belsen.
Mr Black remained in the Army for three and a half years and after leaving, he met his future wife who he married in 1949 and had four children with.
The family settled in the UK and Mr Black began working for Marks and Spencer where he remained until he retired.
Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "Eugene's story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing his testimony, students had the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead.
"At the trust, we impart the history of the Holocaust to young people to ensure that we honour the memory of those whose lives were lost and take forward the lessons taught by those who survived."
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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