Holocaust Memorial Day Lecture 2018

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Holocaust Memorial Day Lecture 2018

By Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wolverhampton

Date and time

Thu, 25 Jan 2018 17:15 - 19:00 GMT

Location

MH002, Mary Seacole Building

University of Wolverhampton, City Campus (Molineux) Camp Street Wolverhampton WV1 1AD United Kingdom

Description

Light refreshments will be available from 4.15pm in the Forum, Lord Swraj Paul Building (adjacent to the Mary Seacole Building). Visit www.wlv.ac.uk/holocaust for further information.

About the lecture

The University of Wolverhampton is pleased to welcome Holocaust survivor Henri Obstfeld and hear his first-hand testimony as part of a visit organised with the Holocaust Educational Trust. The lecture will be followed by a question and answer session which will enable attendees to better understand the nature of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth.

‌‌‌Guest speaker: Henri Obstfeld

Henri Obstfeld was born in Amsterdam in 1940. In May 1940 German troops occupied Holland, and by 1942 Jews in Amsterdam were being rounded up and sent to work camps.

Although he was only two years old, Henri’s parents received papers directing him to present himself at a certain time and place in Amsterdam with personal documents, a rucksack and supply of food. Henri’s parents found Dutch couple, the Klerks, living in Arnhem who agreed to shelter Henri. In late summer 1942 Henri moved in with his new ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ and his name was changed to Hendrik Klerk. Friends and family were told that he was a nephew whose parents had been killed in the Luftwaffe bombing of Rotterdam.

In 1944, as Allied troops advanced from France and Belgium into The Netherlands, Arnhem became a more dangerous place to live. People were advised to evacuate, so the Klerks moved into their daughter’s house in the suburbs. As the fighting intensified, they had to move again, this time to a small village called Harskamp, where Henri was again introduced as the Klerk’s nephew. Harskamp was liberated by Canadian troops in April 1945.

During this time Henri’s parents had found a hiding place in the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam. They lived with Henri’s uncle, his wife and another Jew, and were provided with food by members of the Dutch Resistance.

Henri came to Britain in 1961 and now lives in London. He regularly shares his testimony in schools and colleges across the UK.

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