Our Holocaust survivor stories reflect a wide variety of personal experiences of the Holocaust across Nazi-occupied Europe and provide a valuable insight into the lives of many who suffered from racism and discrimination. These true stories of Holocaust survivors and their families, presented by descendants and family friends, can be adapted to any audience and any age from Year 6 to adult.
Browse our collection of survivor stories covering experiences across Europe including concentration camp stories, stories of forced labour, confinement in ghettos, escape stories, children in hiding and refugee stories.
Our Survivor Stories
Yisrael Abslesz
Yisrael survived several selections for the gas chambers, daily life in Auschwitz Birkenau and the infamous death march.
Charlotte Amdurer
Judith reveals the miracle of Charlotte’s and her sister Frieda’s escape but also the stories of those trapped in Austria.
Major Leonard Berney
One of the first of the Allied troops through the gates of Bergen-Belsen, he came face-to-face with its many horrors.
Lela Black
After being denounced and incarcerated at the Haidari military camp, they were transported to Auschwitz in cattle trucks.
Naomi Blake
Naomi was transported in the notorious cattle trains to Auschwitz, where family members were sent to the gas chambers.
Eva Cato
Eva and her mother survived the Siege of Budapest by sheltering in a basement for weeks with almost no food.
Tony Chuwen
His dramatic story includes his incarceration in two concentration camps and his escape by jumping off a moving train.
Stella Curzon
They could not believe that the people amongst whom they lived harmoniously would overnight become their oppressors.
George Garai
George was forced onto a four-day death march from Mauthausen to Gunskirchen Concentration Camp.
Sam Gardener
Despite going into hiding, his mother and siblings were gassed in Treblinka and his grandfather and his cousins were shot.
Emmy Golding
The insidious rise of the Nazis from 1933 onwards forced Emmy, her parents and her sister to flee Germany in search of a safe haven.
Tootje (Cato) Granaat
Harsh measures taken against Dutch Jews, forced some family members into hiding, some worked with the Resistance, and others were transported to Westerbork transit camp
Fanny Höchstetter
Within days of the Nazi Party taking control of the Reichstag Fanny, Jewish and a senior civil servant, was forced to retire.
Anton & Sonja Hundsdorfer
When Hitler took control of Germany in 1933 Anton, as a Communist and political opponent, had to flee for his life.
Walter & Herta Kammerling
Walter Kammerling arrived in England from Vienna on a Kindertransport aged just 15, never to see his parents and older sister again. He later found out they had died in Auschwitz. In 1944 he married Herta Plaschkes who was also a Kindertransport refugee from A
Lushka Kelly
Lushka’s story movingly describes her separation from her parents and youngest brother, who were sent to extermination camps.
Jan Kurz-Bernstein and Lola Waksman
Jan barely survived hard labour in Siberia, but after recuperating he joined the Berling Army and helped to liberate Warsaw.
Helga Lemer
Discrimination grew worse until the terrible events of Kristallnacht in 1938 when Jewish property was ransacked and burned.
Sabina Miller
Sabina was captured, interviewed by the Gestapo five times and then sent to the Paviak prison in Warsaw.
Renée and George Morton
From 500 letters between 1938 and 1945, Francis reconstructs the fate of Renee’s family, most of whom were murdered.
Mascha Nachmansson
Her parents, brother and sister were forced into the Łódź ghetto where cramped conditions, starvation and rampant disease caused their deaths.
Margot Pogorzelski
After escaping to England aged just 19, she was arrested and interned on the Isle of Man as an ‘enemy alien’.
Cilla Rotblat
After escaping to Russia they were arrested by the Soviets, transported to the Ural Mountains and forced to work, Yaakov in the copper mines and Cilla in the camp.
Sala Slater (nee Herting)
In August 1942, when the French police began their arrest of all Jews, Sala managed to escape. With her own initiative, the help of strangers and some luck, she eventually crossed the Alps into Switzerland, where she remained in safety. At the end of the war s
Marie Stein
From then until their liberation she lived constantly with the risk of getting beaten up, killed or sent to a concentration camp.
Ruth and Raimund Neumeyer
The children departed on a Kindertransport to England in May 1939, while their parents remained stranded in Munich.
Alice Svarin
In August 1944, when the German army entered Slovakia, the few Jews remaining went into hiding in the mountains.
Paulette Szklarz
Weeks before the liberation of Paris, all the Jewish children’s homes were raided and the children were sent to Auschwitz.
Eva Urbach & Ulli Adler
Eva and her sisters escaped to Britain and Argentina in 1938 and 1939. Their parents were murdered at Auschwitz.
Eva & Istvan Wirth
Eva was deported to Auschwitz, then transported to Germany and forced to work in a weapons factory.
Liesl Woltär
Liesl had the courage and strength of character to carry on with her life and to work for the British war effort despite having escaped from Czechoslovakia and losing contact with her parents and her brother. She later discovered that they had died in appalli
Our Holocaust Speakers
All our speakers are based in the UK and are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors. Their diverse backgrounds reflect the rich variety of our Holocaust stories and presentations.
Ernie’s family’s experience of intolerance and hatred in the Nazi period made him realise the importance and relevance of Holocaust education in standing up against antisemitism, Holocaust denial, racism and today’s genocides.
Ernie Hunter
Debra was inspired by her mother Paulette’s story to publish a book and to present her family Holocaust story to honour her memory and that of other family members murdered in the Holocaust.
Debra Barnes
Mascha’s inner strength, her dignity, and her absolute dedication to Holocaust education inspired Jeanette to continue in her mother’s footsteps, in memory of all who had perished in the Holocaust.
Jeanette Marx
Anita is dedicated to applying her 20 years of teaching experience to educate about the Holocaust. In doing so she wishes to ensure that her mother’s message of promoting understanding between faiths continues.
Anita Peleg
Sandra tells her mother’s story of survival to fulfil a promise made to her mother, who believed in tolerance, understanding and compassion for ‘the other’. She also feels a deep obligation to acknowledge the existence of the relatives she never knew.
Sandra Miller
Judith sees her promotion of Holocaust education and her work as an educator in anti-Jewish racism as indelibly linked. The alarming rise in antisemitism has convinced her that educating the next generation may offer a solution to the ‘oldest hatred’.
Judith Hayman
After rewatching his mother’s video testimony, Seymour was inspired by her humanity, resilience and humour. He is motivated to share her testimony as a form of resistance to discrimination, nationalism and genocide.
Seymour Kelly
Jan and Lola both died young, before being able to give survivor testimony, so Noreen feels she tells their story in their place. She wants there to be recognition that they lived and for their memories to endure.
Noreen Plen
Francis’s motivation is to tell the story of just a few of the millions of Jews who were persecuted and murdered in the Second World War, to counter the increase in Holocaust minimisation and denial.
Francis Morton
Jacqueline feels a great sense of responsibility to share her grandmother's story with others. She believes it is essential to bring these survivors’ stories to life and not leave the Holocaust confined to the pages of a history book.
Jacqueline Luck
Jane talks about her mother’s experience of surviving the Holocaust, whilst friends of hers did not, as a tribute to her mother’s hope and vision. Jane hopes that listeners will appreciate the importance of kindness and their power to change other people’s lives.
Jane Curzon
Emily’s mother’s story has many resonances with the experiences of refugees today. She hopes that it will encourage all those who hear it to speak up and to act when they see injustice. Her presentation is dedicated to all the members of her family who did not sur
Emily Cass
Lesley believes the murder of millions of Jews, as well as of other minority groups, must not be relegated to a ‘detail of history’. She promotes the importance of speaking out against intolerance, bullying and persecution.
Lesley Urbach
Diana realises that her mother’s memories are now her responsibility. She tells and retells Margot’s story to as wide an audience as possible with a plea for tolerance and understanding.
Diana Cook
As a secondary school teacher, David understands the importance of Holocaust education. He tells his parents' stories to honour them, albeit posthumously, and to demonstrate where prejudice, discrimination and unkindness can ultimately lead.
David Wirth
Ella’s MA dissertation on the role of third generation Holocaust descendants in transmitting survivor testimony clarified for her the importance of Holocaust education; and prompted her to start sharing her grandpa’s story.
Ella Garai-Ebner
Gabriel tells his mother’s story because he has always been interested in history, including that of his own family; and because he believes that every Holocaust survivor’s story is unique and should be told.
Gabriel Stein
Tim’s quest is to find out more about what happened to the family during the Third Reich. He wants to share his family’s story to show how easily normality can be shattered, and how acts of kindness emerged in the darkest of times.
Tim Locke
Gloria tells her father’s story to remember the murdered members of her family, and to counter recent increases in antisemitism and Holocaust denial. She believes one person’s story can mean more than many statistics in conveying the reality of that dreadful time.
Gloria Silver
Vera grew up listening to her mother’s Holocaust stories and those of other survivors. In honouring her mother’s memories, she tries to combat the myth of Holocaust deniers and to enable people to learn lessons from history.
Vera Bernstein
Paul would like his mother Liesl’s story to be used to help combat racism and discrimination in our society. He has been researching his family history for many years and his presentation is based on that research.
Paul
Helen feels the need to continue the work that her mother began in speaking of her experiences. She especially welcomes speaking to non-Jewish audiences who may have little knowledge of the Holocaust.
Helen Stone
Melanie feels compelled to share her family’s fascinating stories and ignite an interest in the Dutch Holocaust among a wide audience.
Melanie Martin
By telling her grandfather’s story, Avital believes she is continuing his legacy and encouraging meaningful discussion about how to best relate to others to create a kinder, more respectful and forgiving world.
Avital Menahem
John is committed to keeping his father’s story alive to further Leonard’s hope that it would help prevent future atrocities. He sees it as fighting back against Holocaust denial, which Leonard found particularly distasteful.
John Wood
Dalya hopes to inspire other grandchildren to connect with their grandparents’ history, especially while they are still alive to answer questions.
Dalya Wittenberg
Peter was born and lived in Vienna; when he was nearly 9 years old his family returned to England. Having seen the powerful effect that his father’s talks have had on students, Peter continues the work on Holocaust Education that his father engaged in.
Peter Kammerling
Maralyn’s purpose in telling Sam’s story is not only to educate about the Holocaust and to demonstrate triumph over adversity, but to show where extremism and racism can lead. It is a message of acceptance of difference and a call to address injustice.
Maralyn Turgel
Vivienne feels strongly that she is carrying forwards her mother’s intention that her story should not be lost – the very reason why Eva agreed to give recorded testimony. She believes profoundly in the value of education to change lives.