On  Wednesday 2nd December Year 12 students heard a  testimony from Holocaust survivor, Professor Ladislaus Löb, as part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET). The testimony was followed by a question and answer session which enabled students to better understand the nature of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth. The visit is part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s extensive all year round Outreach Programme.

Professor Ladislaus Löb was born on 8th May 1933 in Kolozsvár, Hungary and was an only child. His mother died of TB when he was 9 years old. On 19th March 1944, the German army occupied Hungary. Ladislaus moved into the ghetto in May. On 2nd June, the Allies bombed Kolozsvár and in the confusion, Ladislaus and his father were able to escape from the ghetto.

They travelled to Budapest where his father managed to get them into a camp on Kolumbusz Street. The camp formed part of an exchange whereby Jews’ lives were saved in exchange for goods. Eichmann insisted that the transfer look like a normal deportation so the group were transported to Bergen-Belsen, arriving there on 9th July 1944. As Ladislaus and the other exchange Jews were regarded by the Nazis as valuable commodities, they were treated better  than other prisoners and kept in a closed-off section of the camp.

Ladislaus and his father’s group left the camp on 4th December. They eventually arrived in neutral Switzerland on 7th December where they remained together in hostels. After the war, Ladislaus attended a school in Zurich before eventually coming to the UK in 1963 where he became a professor of German at the University of Sussex. Ladislaus credits his survival on the actions of Kasztner.

Mr Jones, Assistant Headteacher said, ‘It was a great privilege to hear the personal testimony of someone who lived through one of the most dramatic and significant periods of 20th century history.  Professor Löb gave a fascinating talk and then answered a range of questions from the students.  I am sure that it is an event that the students will remember long after they have left school.’