Holocaust survivor talks of the horror of war to Marshland High School students
Elizabeth Dormor, Debby Dye, Joe Carter, Eva Clarke, Erin Cox, Thomas Gibbs, Lydia Beatty - Credit: Archant
A Holocaust survivor, who was born in a Nazi concentration camp, visited a Fenland secondary school to give a testimony about the war horrors experienced by her mother.
Eva Clarke, 69, visited Marshland High School, in West Walton, as part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust.
Elizabeth Dormor, head teacher at Marshland High, said: “Her testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced.
“We hope that by hearing Eva’s testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives.”
Eva was born in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, in April 1945.
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Her parents were separated by the Nazis and her mother was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she hid her pregnancy while working on a slave labour camp near Dresden.
She remained there for six months, getting weaker by the day whilst becoming more visibly pregnant.
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Anna never saw her husband again. She discovered after the war that he had been shot on January 18, 1945, just over a week before the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Russian army.
As the Nazis retreated, Eva’s mother and fellow prisoners were forced onto a train evacuating them to Mauthausen concentration camp on April 29 1945.
Anna had such a shock when she saw the name of the camp that she went into labour. Without any medical assistance Eva was born on an open cart. The Second World War ended nine days later.
After the war Eva and her mother returned to Prague, where Anna married Eva’s stepfather. In the same year they came to the UK.
Karen Pollock MBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “Eva’s story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing her testimony, students will have the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead.”
