In 2015 I was privileged to meet a Holocaust survivor called Rudi Oppenheimer who was 84 at the time. Rudi was full of life and a remarkable character, sadly he has now passed. I was inspired to share his moving story after reading his brother Paul's book ‘From Belsen to Buckingham Palace’.
I think it is vital that we remember the Holocaust especially in today’s climate with the rise of far-right groups and the continuation of hate and violence in the world. When people think of the Holocaust, they think of Auschwitz or gas chambers, yet there was so much more suffering beyond this. The persecution of the Jews occurred years before they were taken to concentration camps. They gradually became powerless, cornered into Amsterdam with obscene amount of restrictions imposed on them by a brutal and evil regime. Banned from public places, they had curfews and no access to telephones ergo no access to help. The notion of imprisonment began before they even entered the camps.
(Meeting Rudi at St Catherine's School 2015)
The Oppenheimer family, Hans (Father), Rita (Mother), and children Paul, Rudi and Eve, were held in Bergen-Belsen from February 1944 to April 1945. Bergen Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp situated in Northern Germany. When they arrived in Belsen Paul was 15, Rudi 12 and Eve 7. Every second in the camp was torture. One of the most degrading activities was when the SS guards rounded everyone up for Apell (daily roll call). Apell could last three hours or all day, in either blazing heat or freezing temperatures whilst wearing minimal clothing. This was both mental and physical torture. Sustenance was in the form of just three meagre meals which included one small cup of brown water (cold “coffee”), a bowl of turnip soup, which was more liquid then vegetable, and an inch and a half slice of bread for dinner. Due to the brutal mistreatment Rudi’s survival instincts kicked in and as food distributor he risked his safety by sneaking more scraps of food for his family. He was caught and punished yet continued to try and help his family.
It is impossible to truly comprehend the intensity of emotions from fear to misery throughout their time in the camp. Rudi and Paul missed out on their adolescence whilst Eve’s childhood was cruelly ripped away. Any notion of childhood innocence was destroyed as they were exposed to unimaginable evil, witnessing harrowing cruelty and death. Due to high levels of starvation, typhus, and malnutrition their parents tragically died in Belsen. Constant anxiety was now met with grief and loneliness.
(Bergen-Belsen)
In April 1945 the boys were taken by the Nazis on a train heading North with no food, no sanitary facilities and no idea what their future would hold. The resourcefulness of the boys was remarkable as they scavenged for potatoes or ate grass from the woods. One morning the boys woke to find the Nazis had fled due to the presence of Russian soldiers. Liberation day was not a celebration for Rudi and Paul, instead it begun a long and difficult journey home. The events of the Holocaust were largely unreported and their citizenship had been stripped by the Nazis, so the boys discovered great challenges in proving they had originally lived in Holland. Both boys were hospitalised with typhus and even endured four nights in an ‘enemy alien’ camp alongside the Nazi soldiers who they feared. The boys had to deal with the grief of losing their parents, grandparents and being separated from their sister and having to find a way to survive.
The most moving moment in the book was when the boys were reunited with their sister Eve. It was pure luck that as they drove out of the ‘enemy alien’ camp a truck passed them at the entrance when they spotted their sister. Whilst the siblings were fortunate to survive the Holocaust, they would never shake the terrible horrors they witnessed and the injustice they experienced.
(Paul Oppenheimer)
The emotional and physical torture that occurred during the Holocaust is shocking and disgusting. Listening to stories like Rudi and Paul’s is vitally important as we need to constantly remind ourselves and others of these tragic events so that they never occur again.
'Everyone should be equal. No one should be afraid. And doing nothing may not be enough' - Paul Oppenheimer.
Holocaust Legacy:
I am committing to continuing my education and research of the Holocaust. I will recommend books, films, and documentaries for people to broaden their knowledge around the topic. I encourage people to donate to the charities below so that the education of the Holocaust can continue in schools and communities and we can keep their memories alive.
Charities:
https://www.holocaust.org.uk/ = The National Holocaust Centre
https://www.het.org.uk/ = Holocaust Educational Trust
Book:
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