An extraordinary story of the most mindblowing strength and courage, with many vivid echoes of my grandmother, my two great-aunts and my great-grandmother. They shared many of the same experiences as these women.
bbc.com/news/stories-5…
bbc.com/news/stories-5…
- Like these women, they were deported in 1944
- Like these women, they were at Ravensbruck: which my grandmother described as the worst of all.
On her arrival there, the first thing she saw was someone so desperate, so bereft, so dehumanised, they were eating human faeces.
- Like these women, they were at Ravensbruck: which my grandmother described as the worst of all.
On her arrival there, the first thing she saw was someone so desperate, so bereft, so dehumanised, they were eating human faeces.
- Like these women, they were brutalised at a labour camp: Frankfurt am Main in their case, Leipzig in these heroes' cases.
At Frankfurt, in freezing conditions, they'd be wearing next to nothing while officers would beat them whenever they stopped to catch their breath.
At Frankfurt, in freezing conditions, they'd be wearing next to nothing while officers would beat them whenever they stopped to catch their breath.
When one officer objected to their treatment, he was shot dead.
- Like these women, they were taken on a death march. Which went on every day for miles and miles and miles, in horrendous conditions. If anyone stopped just for a moment, they were immediately shot.
- Like these women, they were taken on a death march. Which went on every day for miles and miles and miles, in horrendous conditions. If anyone stopped just for a moment, they were immediately shot.
- Like these women, they were met with a world after the war in which nobody knew anything about what they'd been through, and they were encouraged to stay silent.
My great-grandmother and two great-aunts never spoke about their experiences. My grandmother never did until 1990.
My great-grandmother and two great-aunts never spoke about their experiences. My grandmother never did until 1990.
The first person she spoke about everything she'd been through to was me, because I prompted her. I said I knew about it, that I was desperate for her to open up about it, and that I loved her very dearly.
Once she started talking, thank God, she never stopped afterwards.
Once she started talking, thank God, she never stopped afterwards.
And I absolutely agree: the article speaks of unrecognised PTSD. That's exactly right.
My grandmother unquestionably had PTSD for the rest of her life - and for many reasons which I've described before, it passed down the generations. I think I have it myself.
My grandmother unquestionably had PTSD for the rest of her life - and for many reasons which I've described before, it passed down the generations. I think I have it myself.
A very great deal is known about the Nazis' sheer evil and immense suffering of their countless millions of victims.
Little is publicly reported about their suffering *after* the war, for the rest of their lives. And the knock-on consequences for their children and grandchildren
Little is publicly reported about their suffering *after* the war, for the rest of their lives. And the knock-on consequences for their children and grandchildren
The survivors had their emotions literally beaten and brutalised out of them, and few of them ever spoke about anything.
So in my grandmother's case, she'd pull away desperately if anyone tried to hug her, and never truly trusted anyone again throughout the rest of her life.
So in my grandmother's case, she'd pull away desperately if anyone tried to hug her, and never truly trusted anyone again throughout the rest of her life.
In my great-aunt's case, the day me and my parents went to pick her up to take her to her sister's funeral in 2017, first she wouldn't open the door. Then she sat in her flat scared of where we were taking her.
Then in the car, she said to me:
"Which organisation are you from?"
Then in the car, she said to me:
"Which organisation are you from?"
Instantly, I segued into what was in her head. The indescribable fear she'd lived with for over 70 years. The experience of being taken away by monsters. The belief that it could happen again at any time.
At my gran's funeral, my sister and I stood either side of our great-aunt, with our arms around her.
Later that afternoon, she'd recovered. There were tea and cakes laid on, including a rather marvellous chocolate cake. I put a slice on my plate, sat next to her, and she said:
Later that afternoon, she'd recovered. There were tea and cakes laid on, including a rather marvellous chocolate cake. I put a slice on my plate, sat next to her, and she said:
"Hmm. Not good for your figure!"
My sister cracked up. It was just the way Lia said it. She had the most wicked sense of humour.
That's the thing about Holocaust survivors: they all found a way to somehow move on with life, in spite of the inner turmoil they were so often in.
My sister cracked up. It was just the way Lia said it. She had the most wicked sense of humour.
That's the thing about Holocaust survivors: they all found a way to somehow move on with life, in spite of the inner turmoil they were so often in.
One other thing. When we think of the Holocaust, we always think, first and foremost, of the Jewish people. We often forget how many others were targeted by the Nazis and murdered.
- The disabled
- The Romany
- Homosexuals
- Resistance workers/fighters
- Political opponents
- The disabled
- The Romany
- Homosexuals
- Resistance workers/fighters
- Political opponents
Many others too.
In the horrifically packed train carriages en route to Auschwitz, which stank of urine and faeces and where there was scarcely any air at all, my grandmother sat next to a sex worker.
She'd been caught hiding Jews and thus deported to the death camps.
In the horrifically packed train carriages en route to Auschwitz, which stank of urine and faeces and where there was scarcely any air at all, my grandmother sat next to a sex worker.
She'd been caught hiding Jews and thus deported to the death camps.
The sex worker told my gran her story... and suddenly, she stopped. She dropped down dead right in front of my gran. A bullet - likely from Allied forces - had penetrated the carriage.
From that day on, my grandmother would never hear a single word said against sex workers.
From that day on, my grandmother would never hear a single word said against sex workers.
Not one word. That was the kind of person she was. She wanted everyone who perished to be remembered, and it's every bit as important as ever that we do.
Just as it's vital that we remember the stories of the nine women in the article. Heroes, all of them. 🙏
Just as it's vital that we remember the stories of the nine women in the article. Heroes, all of them. 🙏
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