Year 9 pupil Monty featured in Holocaust Memorial Day exhibition
Posted on: January 26th 2023School News
Year 9 pupil Monty has been featured in a portrait being exhibited at The Imperial War Museum. To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, the "Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors" Exhibition features a portrait which includes Monty, his father and his first cousin.
Monty explained his family's background: "My paternal Grandmother, Anne, is featured in the exhibition as she is a Holocaust survivor. My Grandma was born in 1938 in Poland to Jewish parents, Hannah and Moses Jakub. In 1941, as her family were being marched away from their home by German soldiers, my Grandma’s mum pushed her through a hedge at the side of the road to a waiting neighbour, who saved her life. My Grandma never saw either of her parents again. My Grandma survived the war as a hidden child, cared for by a distant Aunt who had converted to Catholicism before the war. She was very malnourished, at times very ill with TB, and only just survived her ordeal.
"After the war, my Grandma’s uncle Jan in South Africa, who had managed to escape Poland before the war, found out my Grandma had survived through the Red Cross. He managed to get her to South Africa, where he and his wife adopted her and my Grandma started a new life at the age of 10. My Grandma married my Grandfather, Maurice, who was a doctor and went on to have three children, my Dad is her middle son. In 1978, my Grandparents and their children emigrated to the UK, and settled in Manchester. My Grandma trained as an optician and had her own practice".
Monty shared his thoughts about the impact of his grandmother's experiences: "It means a lot to me that my Grandma has shared her life story in the book she wrote with the help of the ‘My Voice’ Project. When I read her story I felt shocked by the brutal nature of her childhood and deeply saddened that she experienced any of this. Her book will ensure that her story is always known and never forgotten. There is a copy of her book at ‘Yad Vashem’ which is The World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem.
"It is so important that we remember the stories of the people who lived through such traumatic times and, by some miracle, survived to tell their story. Ensuring Holocaust Education continues through the generations is incredibly important. Especially as the number of people who witnessed the horrors of this, and other genocides, first hand decreases with time".
Monty concluded: "Stories like my Grandma’s help to remind us of our responsibility to protect people of all faiths and backgrounds, especially children, who are caught up in wars across the world. It is also an important reminder that every life is precious. I am, and will remain, committed to ensuring everyone has the right to practice their faith and live their lives in safety, free from any form of persecution. The portrait of me with my Grandma, will always serve as a reminder to do all that I can to prevent anything like the Holocaust happening again".
