Arek Hersh

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Arek Hersh

Arek Hersh MBE (* 1929 in Sieradz ) is a survivor of the Holocaust and author.

Live and act

Hersh was born in Sieradz, Poland, he had a brother and three sisters. At the age of ten he was already living in the ghetto. At the age of eleven he was taken to Auschwitz and registered there under concentration camp number B-7608.

During the war he survived other concentration camps, including Buchenwald and Theresienstadt after Auschwitz . Before the liberation of Auschwitz , he was sent on a two-day death march with thousands of other prisoners and put on a freight train of the Deutsche Reichsbahn . One day before the presumably planned murder on May 8, 1945, he was freed by Red Army soldiers in Theresienstadt . In a photo that was taken shortly afterwards, he can be seen together with Ben Helfgott , Ike Alterman and Sam Laskier .

The Central British Fund for German Jewry of Leonard Montefiore and the British government approved the admission of 1,000 young displaced persons . Conditions for this were an age between 8 and 15 years and confirmation from a troop doctor about their ability to travel. Montefiore had to guarantee that he would look after the children and raised funds for it. Ultimately, 732 children, including 300 after August 14, 1945, were brought to England by the Royal Air Force . These 300 were accommodated on the site of the former Short Sunderland aircraft plant , which is located near Lake Windermere . Among them was Hersh.

The story was filmed in 2020 under the name The Children of Windermere in a co-production by ZDF and BBC . In addition, there was a film documentary The Children of Windermere - The Documentation , in which those affected, including Arek Hersh himself, Ben Helfgott and Sam Laskier ; occurred. This was broadcast on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp in 2020 by ZDF-History .

Hersh stayed in England, got married and raised a family. From the mid-1990s onwards, Hersh made it his business to bring his Holocaust experience to as many people as possible. In 1980 he traveled to Auschwitz for the first time after the liberation. As a result, he regularly accompanied groups of students on trips there. In 2001 he published the book A Detail of History with his experiences. A documentary film (Arek) by director Tony Lloyd from 2005 accompanies him on a trip to Poland.

In 2009 Arek Hersh was named Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the memory of the Holocaust .

Even in old age, Hersh is active on lecture tours.

publication

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b https://www.zdf.de/dokumentation/zdf-history/die-kinder-von-windermere-106.html
  2. ↑ https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/die-kinder-von-windermere-sie-wurden-wieder-wie-menschen-behelten/25473080.html
  3. ↑ https://presseportal.zdf.de/pm/die-kinder-von-windermere/ Presseportal ZDF
  4. ^ Arek Hersh, Concentration camp survivor. HolocaustLearning.org / The Holocaust Survivors' Friendship Association, accessed November 19, 2014 .
  5. ^ A b Auschwitz survivor gets MBE for raising awareness of the Holocaust. Ripon Gazette, accessed November 19, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Arek. Internet Movie Database (IMDb), accessed November 19, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Arek Hersh Headmaster's Lecture - Wednesday 25th January 2012. Ampleforth College , York, January 27, 2012, archived from the original on November 29, 2014 ; accessed on March 30, 2018 (English).
  8. ^ Public Lecture - Mr Arek Hersh. (PDF; 66 KB) HM Government of Gibraltar, January 27, 2014, accessed on February 19, 2016 (English, announcement of the presentation on Holocaust Memorial Day on January 29, 2014).
  9. ^ Ashley Carter: Auschwitz survivor Arek Hersh MBE: “I wanted to live. I wanted to survive. " In: leftlion.co.uk. July 13, 2019, accessed on July 13, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Hersh, Arek
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Holocaust survivor
DATE OF BIRTH 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Sieradz