My Voice

Eva (then known as Maidi) was born in 1929 in the town of Szolyva in the Carpathian Mountains. Eva appears in some of the photographs that are the only visual evidence of the mass murder at Auschwitz. She was shaved, tattooed and give a uniform to wear. She felt so dehumanised and alone. A job in 'Canada' (a place of safety within the camp) enabled her to pinch food, clothes and on one occasion, diamonds. This possibly saved her life. In January 1945, Eva was forced to march from the camp - the ‘death march’ to Bergen-Belsen, and then to Berlin. Those who could not continue were shot. After the war, Eva hitch-hiked through Europe, and was later introduced to a Hungarian businessman, Leopold Neumann who had escaped to Britain before the war. Eva and Leo married in 1950 and raised a family in Manchester. Eva has 25 grandchildren, almost a hundred descendants in all. In her later years, Eva has devoted much of her energy to telling her story. Many have been inspired by her message of hope and kindness, her resilience, her warmth and her wisdom. Eva's book is part of the My Voice Project book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Harry Olmer was born in 1927 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He and his five siblings had a happy childhood, staying with their grandmother Rochel Leah every summer in Charsznica, a rural area surrounded by woods. When war broke out, the Germans took over Sosnowiec. In 1942, Harry was taken to a concentration camp in Plaszów, working 12-hour shifts at a railway embankment on a small cup of coffee and lump of bread. Gruelling labour at Buchenwald and Schlieben left Harry dreadfully ill and liberation couldn’t come soon enough. In 1945, he came to England as one of the 'Windermere Boys’. Despite arriving in the UK with nothing, Harry built a successful life, studying dentistry at Glasgow University, marrying Margaret Lunzer, having four children and eight grandchildren and retiring as a dentist at 86. Harry's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Helen Stein was born in Strasbourg on 28 December 1930, the eldest of 3 children. When war broke out, Helen and her family were evacuated to the free zone of St-Junien, near Limoges. However, in November 1942, the Germans crossed the line and the region was occupied. Helen and her siblings fled to Switzerland led by Marianne Cohn, who had already smuggled many children over the border to safety. They all had false papers and Helen became Helene Blanchet. Unfortunately, when they were almost at the Swiss border, they were arrested by the Germans. At aged 13 Helen found herself in the Prison du Pax in Annemasse, terrified and looking after her younger siblings. They expected to be killed or sent to Auschwitz. After the war, Helen and her siblings were reunited with her parents. However, none of her mother or father’s relatives survived the war. In 1953 Helen married Leo Stein, a survivor from Germany who had settled in Manchester, and they had two children. Helen has never forgotten Marianne Cohn, who died rather than betray her colleagues and the children. Helen’s book is dedicated to Marianne. Helen's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Ivor was born in 1931 and grew up in the village of Barsana, Romania, with his parents and siblings. In August 1940, the village was occupied by the Hungarians, allies of Nazi Germany, and began to pass anti-Jewish laws. Jewish men and children were beaten up and Ivor couldn’t go to school without children chasing after him, calling him, ‘a dirty Jew.’ In 1944, at 12 years old, Ivor was forced onto a cramped cattle train to Auschwitz, where he was shaved, tattooed, and witnessed the worst cruelty imaginable. His father was killed, after sustaining a hand injury. Later, Ivor and his brother were taken to Bergen-Belsen where they were liberated by the British Army. In October 1945, Ivor was flown to Southampton, and he later settled in north-west London, starting a business from nothing with his brother, manufacturing bags, which soon flourished. Ivor met his wife, Marion, and they had two sons. Ivor now has quite a legacy, with seven grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. Ivor's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Jack Aizenberg was born into a Jewish family in 1928 in Staszow, Poland. On 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland and soon began targeting Poland’s 3.5 million Jews, looting homes, burning properties, publicly humiliating them and sending many to forced labour camps. In 1942, living in the last Polish town to be evacuated of all its Jews, Jack went into hiding; parting reluctantly from his parents and brother. Upon discovery of Jack’s hiding place, he was sent to work in a German munitions factory in Kielce and later experienced the harrowing conditions of Buchenwald and Colditz. By February 1945, Jack, along with 600 other concentration camp inmates, was forced on a 200 mile death march, towards Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. Jack was finally liberated in Theresienstadt on 27 April 1945 and was brought to England to recuperate in Windermere. He later settled in Manchester, creating a thriving business and loving family. Jack's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Jackie Young was born in 1941 in Austria. He was a child survivor of Theresienstadt concentration camp where he spent two years and eight months before liberation by the Soviet Army in May 1945. He came to England at nearly four years old and was adopted by a loving couple, the Janofskys, who told him nothing about his background. Jackie learned he was adopted at age nine when a boy at school told him and he started to understand why he always felt different from everyone else. Jackie’s life since has been a 70 year-long quest to find out the truth. Bit by bit, Jackie has uncovered the missing pieces of his background. He learned his mother was killed at 32 at Maly Trostenets near Minsk, most likely shot by the Nazis along with a further estimated 200,000 Jews. He also feared his father was a Nazi as his mother was unmarried, he went on the TV show ‘DNA Family Secrets’ in 2022 to discover the truth. Now a retired London taxi driver, Jackie has been married to the love of his life Lita for 60 years and has many treasures now – their two daughters and three grandchildren. Jackie's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Lady Milena was born Milena Fleischmann in 1929 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Living with her socialist-leaning grandparents, Milena was exposed to anti-Nazi ideology. Her father organised papers that would allow Thomas Mann, a renowned writer who had been cast out of Germany, to obtain honorary Czech citizenship. In March 1939, life changed when Milena’s father Rudolf was warned of his impending arrest for being both a Jew and a supporter of Thomas Mann. In March 1939, after being baptised for ‘safety’, Milena and her sister Eva were sent on the last Kindertransport train to England, where they were taken in as foster children. Through music, art and education Milena has ensured that a part of the Czech Holocaust is not forgotten. She was proud to be depicted in the 2023 film ‘One Life’ starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. Milena has used her voice to promote knowledge of the Holocaust and its subsequent power to ensure that this dark period of history is not repeated. Lady Milena's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Lydia Tischler was born in Ostrava in what was then Czechoslovakia. Her story takes her from childhood innocence to the horrors of the ghetto-camp of Theresienstadt, where she spent two years before volunteering to go to Auschwitz after learning that her mother and sister were being transported there. After liberation in 1945, Lydia came to England in a Wellington bomber aircraft as one of The Windermere Boys. Lydia has gone onto to live a fulfilled, meaningful life, working as a child psychotherapist for over 65 years and marrying Salo Tischler in November 1975. Lydia’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Rosel Siev was born in Aurich, North west Germany in June 1921. She grew up in a very religious Jewish family and had a happy childhood. She was one of five children and the family were very close. In later life, Rosel lived in Fulda and Frankfurt where she experienced Kristallnacht. She remembers walking in the street and seeing Jewish places of interest burning and being destroyed. Close non-Jewish friends turned against her and her family which impacted her greatly. Her parents thought it would be good for her to come to the UK. She arrived in Cardiff in 1938 when she was 17 but relocated to Manchester soon after, where she was a student nurse at Crumpsall Hospital for seven years, and became a staff nurse. Rosel married Arthur in 1947 and had two daughters. Sadly, Arthur died suddenly in April 1969. Rosel was introduced to her second husband, Asher who had also been widowed, and married him in 1971. She went to live with him in Dublin. Rosel has many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Sadly Rosel’s parents and two younger brothers were killed in concentration camps, along with many of her extended family. However, her sisters Hannelore and Hildegard survived the camps. Rosel's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

Tommy was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1938, just after Kristallnacht. At that time there were already a lot of restrictions for Jews, and they had to wear a Star of David. In August 1939, three days before the declaration of war, baby Tommy and his parents left Berlin by train, arriving at Waterloo Station, London, with only 10 shillings and a case full of nappies. The family then moved to Manchester in 1943. Despite his parents struggling in the early years, Tommy had a beautiful childhood. At 19, Tommy left Manchester and returned to Germany, having been offered a 3-year apprenticeship, learning all about the textile business in one of the largest mail order companies in Germany. This was just the start of his colourful and successful business career. Growing up as an only child, Tommy learnt that much of his family perished in the concentration camps. Tommy has since discovered he has relatives in America, Argentina, Israel and France. Had it not been for the Holocaust, he would have had a large family. Having his sons, grandchildren, and relatives around the world, reminds Tommy how lucky his life has been, despite the hardship his parents and ancestors went through. Tommy's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.