As seven Holocaust survivors told their moving stories, one of them was the only person to have survived the Nazi terrors. Another woman, however, managed to save herself by being a cellist and her music talents.
Prince of Wales (73), commissioned paintings by the old men and women. These will form part of Royal Collection. Buckingham Palace Three weeksTo serve as a powerful testament to their knowledge.
Tonight, both the queen and duchess of Cornwall unveiled their portraits in London’s Queen Gallery. They were moved when they spoke with many survivors.
Lily Ebert, aged 98, was among them. showed the Prince her concentration camp tattoo and a golden pendant she hid from camp guards in her shoe then later in her daily bread ration.
Charles, patron of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust also requested portraits of Manfred Goldberg and Arek Hersh.
FEMAIL presents the brave stories of those who survived the death of members of the royal family.
Last night Prince Charles hailed some of America’s Holocaust survivors as he revealed portraits that were created as a permanent reminder of Nazi horrors, such as Manfred Goldberg, (pictured right and left as a child)
Among those who sat for portraits was Zigi Shipper, 91, who was taken to a concentration camp alongside his grandmother (pictured left, aged two, and right, in 2022)
Another survivor whose portrait was painted was Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who said in 2020 that she escaped death in Auschwitz by ‘complete fluke’ because the band in the camp needed a cellist (pictured left, playing the cello taken in Berlin before WWII, and right)
Helen Aronson is one of seven survivors whose portraits can be seen in the gallery. She was part of an approximately 750-strong group liberated from the Nazi-run Ghetto in Poland by her mother and brother (left and Right).
MANFRED GOLDBERG 90
Manfred, 90 was born in Kassel (central Germany) in April 1930.
Two weeks prior, his father fled to England and had not been able to return to his family.
Manfred, his family and friends were originally deported from Germany into the Riga Ghetto in Latvia.
Manfred, who was only three months away from the end of the ghetto’s liquidation, was transferred to a local labour camp. There, he worked as a railway runner, and was later moved back to Stutthof in 1943.
There he worked as a slave laborer for eight months, along with Stolp and Burggraben. Manfred was sent to Neustadt, Germany in grueling conditions on his death march.
Zigi, Manfred and Manfred met at the concentration camps and were pictured in Lensterhoff. Germany 1945.
Manfred Zigi and Zigi met in concentration camps. They remained close friends over the years, and continue to tell their stories for younger generations about the Holocaust.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met Manfred, Zigi and the Duchess at the Stutthof Concentration Camp in Poland.
Holocaust survivor Zigi spoke to Kate Middleton with his friend Manfred during a call that was broadcast last year. (pictured).
Manfred said that his life, which he had been 13 years old when his brother died, was saved because he could work in camps.
As Jewish schools in Germany were closed in 1938, he told the duchess that he had no education for seven years but came to England and had a ‘wonderful’ life.
Manfred was able to catch up with some of the education he had missed and graduated from London University in Electronics. Shary is his wife and he has four children and twelve grandchildren.
When he visited Stutthof (in Poland) in 2017, he met with the Duke of Cambridge and Duchess.
Kate Middleton spoke last year to him about the camp and his experience with Zigi, who was also a survivor.
‘That is what saved my life. My strength was unmatched for my age.
‘We had to face a selection, which involved moving along single-file until we were confronted by an SS man who would speak “left” or “right”.
‘And by that time we knew that left meant death today, right meant survive until the next selection at least,’ he recalled.
‘I was sent to those to be spared, my mother was sent to those to be murdered. It was amazing how resourceful she managed it.
‘As I shuffled forwards the man behind me whispered to me, “if they ask you your age say you are 17”. Actually, I was just past my fourteenth birthday. He primed me, and I followed his lead. [the SS man]You asked me this question, and I answered 17.
‘I have pondered on it, but I will never know [whether]He saved my life. Never saw him again. He was behind me, I don’t know which way he was sent. He’s in my thoughts, as my angel who primed me.
‘I don’t think I would have had the resource myself to say 17. But possibly that helped save my life.’
He told Kate: ‘Well, I know that many survivors have not had a peaceful night’s sleep, many even to this day. It is common for them to have nightmares.
“I had two parents who survived the war. I was one of a few million. Zigi was one of my closest friends. He had no parents. It was a good life.
As Jewish schools in Germany were closed in 1938, he told the duchess that he had no education for seven years but came to England and had a ‘wonderful’ life.
‘I must tell you in all honesty that when I arrived in this country in 1946 I did not dream in my lifetime I would ever have the privilege of seeing, never mind connecting, with royalty.
‘It confirms to me that I will never appreciate fully how lucky I was to be admitted to live my life in this country in freedom, ‘ he explained emotionally.
‘My life really began when I arrived here when I was 16 years old. I didn’t know the meaning of life.‘
The Duchess shared a sweet moment with Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg at the unveiling of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust
Camilla posed with Holocaust survivors Zigi Shipper and Manfred as their portraits were unveiled on Monday as part of an exhibition to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
ZIGI SHIPPER 91
Born in January 1930, to a Jewish family in Łódź, Poland, Zigi Shipper’s, 91, parents divorced when he was five and he was brought up by his grandmother and father, having been told his mother had died.
His father fled to the Soviet Union in 1939 believing it only was young Jewish men that were at greatest risk. Zigi did not see him again. On the day of liberation his grandmother, tragically, died.
Zigi was born to his grandmother and taken to train stations in 1944 to be transported to Auschwitz.
Speaking to Kate in 2021, he said: ‘So after a few days we came to the station, I said to my grandmother “I can’t see any trains”.
‘She said, “They are standing in front of you”. I said, “That’s not for us, that’s for animals. This isn’t for me. But they did open the doors, and began to let people in.
Widower Zigi worked in the UK as a stationary worker and then married to have six grand-children and two great-grandchildren.
“There wasn’t anywhere that you could lay down. They would sit on your head if you sat down. It was my prayer that someone might die so that I could sit down. They used to take out dead bodies every morning, and eventually they gave me somewhere to rest.
‘I can’t get rid of it, you know. How could you think of a similar thing today? It would be to want my loved one die for me so that I could lie down. That’s what they made me do.’
He continued: ‘Eventually we arrived one early morning, they opened the door and we didn’t know where we were and somebody said, “oh, we [are at] Auschwitz”. I didn’t have a clue what Auschwitz was.
They told us to get rid of everything. They then took us to wash and clean. The group was joined by other members who had to make a choice. 90 percent of the participants were then killed.
“There were several women who were carrying a child and were holding it. The German officers came and told them that they could take the baby to another side. They wouldn’t do it. They shot both the baby and the woman eventually.
‘Us, we didn’t know what was going to happen. We were washed and they took us. We didn’t get a number on our arms but I had a number, 84,303. That number is something that I will always recall. This number is so important to me. I can’t forget it. It is my goal to rid myself of it.
Zigi worked in London as a stationary man and later married to have six grand-children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. (Photo taken at Zigi’s 90th birthday party with his family).
Holocaust survivors Manfred Goldberg (left) and Zigi Shipper (right) pose for a photograph at the unveiling of ‘Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust’
‘Eventually some officers came and they told us, “We need 20 boys to go to a working camp”. Manfred was in this camp.
“It was small and I went to it, then three months later I was in the hospital. Then I went to a place, then I went to another place.’
He was released in May 1945 and received a letter from England. It was written by an English woman.
She shared that her search for her son had led to the discovery of his name in a British Red Cross List.
He was asked by her to examine the scarlet on his wrist. It had been there since he burned himself when he was two years old. He did.
Manfred and his friends were his only relatives. He initially refused to move. Ten months later, however, he traveled to England to reunite with his mother who he hadn’t even met.
Zigi said his first six months in the UK ‘were hell’ because he missed his friends so much but that he went on to have a ‘wonderful, wonderful life’.
Widower Zigi was a UK stationer who married and had two daughters and six grandchildren. He also wanted to share his story with young people about the Holocaust.
Zigi Shipper spoke with the Duchess of Cornwall as his portrait was unveiled as part of the ‘Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust’ exhibition
The Prince of Wales studied the portrait of Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper at The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace
At Monday’s Seven Portraits: Surviving Holocaust exhibition, the Prince of Wales and Zigi Shipper family were joined by Jenny Saville (right).
LILY EBERT (98),
A 20-year old Mrs Ebert, her mother and five of her siblings were taken to Auschwitz in July 1944.
Lily, Hungarian Jews, was one of the last train passengers to reach Auschwitz. She spent months in Birkenau and then was transported to Altenburg.
After encountering Josef Mengele (respected for his cruel experiments on camp residents), her parents and several of her siblings were sentenced to death in the gas chamber. The remaining members of the family were then put to work.
She made headlines last year when, with the help of her great-grandson Dov, she was reunited with the American soldier who penned her a heartfelt note on a German banknote after she was liberated from a Nazi Death March in 1945.
Lily is pictured last with her siblings. This photo was taken before they had children in 1943.
During the Monday event, she told the prince: “Meeting You, It is For Everyone Who Lost Their Lives.”
Charles said, “But it is more privilege for me,” and she touched Charles’ shoulder.
Mrs Ebert, 98 years old, showed her future king her pendant. She rolled her sleeves up to expose the tattoo she had on her left forearm. A-10572 is A for Auschwitz. 10 was her block number. 572 was her prisoner number.
She spoke about the angel pendant she wore and said, “This necklace is extremely special.” It survived Auschwitz, and was reunited with me.
“Auschwitz took all, even their golden teeth. However, this survived.
“I placed it in the heels of my shoes, but the heel was too worn so I… Every day, I kept it in the little piece of bread that we ate. That’s the end of that story. When I got the gift from my mother, I was just five years old.
“My mother died.” My little brother, little sister and I did not survive.
They arrived, and Dr Mengele saw them. So he immediately took my necklace. Since my survival, I’ve worn my necklace almost every day.
As well as writing a book about the horrific reality of life in a concentration camp, Lily Ebert spreads her story via TikTok – she has 1.6 million followers
Lily Ebert displays a tattoo from Auschwitz on her arm
Lily was on the last train carrying Hungarian Jews into Auschwitz, 1944. After spending months at Birkenau, she was taken to Altenburg. This is a subcamp of Buchenwald.
Dov Forman was her great-grandson and coauthored a book together with Mrs Ebert entitled Lily’s Promise. How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live. Dov said that Charles had been very emotional during their encounter.
Earlier today she appeared on GMB today to discuss why she will never stop spreading awareness of the crimes committed by the Nazis.
Today on GMB, she shared her story with Kate Garraway and Ben Sheppard.
Her story was never her story. It is the story for millions.
Kate Garraway was asked by Lily to answer if the tattoo had been removed or if it is a reminder.
Lily said she hadn’t considered removing the sign, and that it was something she didn’t want to do. It makes a huge difference to say something to make it visible or heard about.
“The world needs to know just how far humans will go. To that end, other humans should give tattoos. You weren’t humans. No more, no less.
“Another person can take my humanity.” They are not people, and they can’t take my humanity away.
Lily described the meeting with the Prince of Wales today on GMB as a great privilege and claimed that it was a royal honor to be able to meet him. “One of the finest men in America” [she has]”Never met” and added that he was polite to all.
The Prince of Wales met Auschwitz survivor Lily as he unveiled seven portraits of some of the nation’s last remaining Holocaust survivors last night
Lily, whose photograph will be hung alongside six other in the gallery’s galleries, was introduced to the Duchess by Dov who, along with his grandson, has co-written a book about Lily’s experience entitled Lily’s Promise: How We Survived Auschwitz
AREK HERSH
Arek was only 11 years old when his first concentration camp was opened. Arek managed to escape Auschwitz while pretending to be 17-years-old and a lockmaker.
He endured what he calls ‘the train of damnation’, a month being ferried on open wagons across Europe as the German army retreated with their prisoners.
He survived the Lodz gehetto, Auschwitz-Birkenau forced labour, and a march to Buchenwald, where he was finally killed.
In footage of him at Auschwitz, he recalled: ‘In January it was –25C. The night was a terrible time for many people. They came up with a small cart and took the bodies to Auschwitz the next morning. I never forget. This place is something I always think of every day.
Arek was only 11 years old at the time he was transported to his first concentration camp. He survived Auschwitz pretending that he was 17 and was a lockmaker.
He was able to survive the Lodz Ghetto and forced labor at Auschwitz–Birkenau.
In 2020, he spoke out to Weekend magazine. He said: “I still remember how everyone grabbed for the bread.”
‘We’d hide it under the mattress and the people who looked after our rooms kept finding mouldy bread. We thought the food might suddenly stop.’
Arek was among 300 orphaned survivors of the death camps who were transported to the British beauty spot of Lake Winderemere.
Leonard Montefiore (British Jewish Philanthropist) was the inspiration for this initiative. He had previously helped to found an organization that saved 65,000 Jews from Nazi Europe.
After the war ended, he convinced the British government that 1,000 Holocaust survivors were being rehabilitated. This was funded by the British Jewish Community.
Only 732 people were located, with 300 staying at Calgarth Estate in Windermere. This was wartime housing to accommodate workers at aeroplane factories.
The first children of Poland, mainly Polish, arrived in August 1945 in RAF aircraft that had just delivered their cargo. They were then on their way back home.
In 2018, Chris Tarrant visited the camps alongside Alek for his programme Chris Tarrant’s Extreme Railway Journeys
He met the Duchess at Lake Windermere last summer and reminisced about the event (pictured together).
The Prince of Wales meets Holocaust survivor Arek as he attended the opening of the exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery on Monday
Children were sitting on the floors and there were no chairs.
Arek remembered how, when children first get bread, they run off with it and hide it because they don’t know what will happen next.
Arek said that he felt like he was living again. It was like I felt like a normal human being. Windermere was a great help to me.
Regular reunions were possible because of the bond between the Windermere siblings.
They formed a charity together in 1963 called The ’45 Aid Society, raising money for those in need.
Some of these boys and girls, (there were 80 girls and far fewer women in camps), became famous, such as Sir Ben Helfgott whose story is shown in the movie and who later represented Great Britain in weightlifting at the Olympics.
Others include Rabbi Hugo Gryn, a renowned presenter on Radio 4’s Moral Maze, and celebrated artist Roman Halter, while Moishe Malinicky is Strictly star Judge Rob Rinder’s grandfather.
Almost all of them are involved in Holocaust education to make sure this story of man’s inhumanity to man is never forgotten.
He met the Duchess at Lake Windermere last summer and recalled his experience.
He called the meeting with the royal “very nice”, adding that she was very curious.
“It brought back pleasant memories of being at the lake.”
ANITA LASKER-WALLFISCH, 97
Anita LaskerWallfisch was just 18 when, in December 1943, she was sent to Auschwitz. This Nazi death camp was located in Poland under occupation. More than 1 million Jews were killed there.
She was transferred to Bergen-Belsen in November 1944. This is where Anne Frank, diarist, died.
In 2020 Mrs Lasker Wallfisch stated that Auschwitz saved her by “complete fluke” because there was a camp band who needed a cellist.
Raised in Breslau in Germany, in a musical household and living in Wroclaw now in Poland by her family, Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch escaped both the Bergen-Belsen extermination camp (now known as the Bergen-Belsen concentration prison).
After her parents were taken to Lublin in South-east Poland on April 22, 1942, she learned that their deaths had occurred upon arrival.
Renate Lasker Wallfisch and Mrs Lasker Wallfisch were both conscripted as workers in a paper plant, but they were also arrested and held for helping French prisoners of war to forge documents.
She said, “I found it not convincing that I was being killed simply because I happen to be Jewish.”
After being taken from Auschwitz around the same time as Anne Frank in November 1944, her body was transported to Bergen-Belsen. There she died.
Holocaust survivor Anita holds up a photo of herself playing the cello in Berlin before the outbreak of WWII
‘That was constantly on your mind – when and how you were going to be killed.’
After serving one year they were taken to Auschwitz on a train. There, she was allowed to participate in the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz.
An orchestra was created to aid the marching of work gangs. It was sent each morning to be returned at night. Also, it could play music whenever an SS officer needed to hear it.
Mrs LaskerWallfisch stated that it was an accident that Auschwitz had a group that required a cellist. I didn’t expect to be allowed to perform the cello at Auschwitz. I was ready to enter the gas chamber.
Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch was with her sister when the Red Army attacked Auschwitz early in 1945. They were then loaded on a truck and driven to Bergen-Belsen.
Before settling in England in 1946, she was an interpreter in British military units after her liberation.
The English Chamber Orchestra was co-founded by Mrs Lasker Wallfisch. In 1952, she married Peter Wallfisch (her childhood friend from Germany who left Germany in 1930s).
In 2016, she was given an MBE for her services in Holocaust education.
Asked how she coped with the trauma of the Holocaust, she said: ‘That I can’t answer – obviously I coped and I am here. It is difficult to describe how you deal with it. It was a great blessing that I have a musical background. But, you can’t help but be grateful.
Ms Lasker Wallfisch was born in Germany and immigrated to Britain with her husband, who had also two children.
The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are pictured speaking with German-British cellist Anita, a surviving member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz
Artist Peter Kuhfeld with his painting of Holocaust survivor Anita Laskar-Wallfisch at the unveiling of the ‘Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust’ exhibition
The Duchess Of Cornwall and Peter Kuhfeld, artist and Holocaust survivor Anita LaskarWallfischof (frontright) with her family during an exhibit on Monday
RACHEL LEVY, aged 91
Rachel Levy, 91, grew up in the former Czechoslovakia where she felt the start of the Nazi persecution came when Jewish children were barred from going to school.
Solomon, her father was sent to Labour camp. She never came back. Later she was forced to board a train for Auchwitz.
Her younger siblings Rivka, 10, Etta, eight and toddler Ben-Zvi were considered too young to work and were sent to the gas chambers immediately alongside her mother.
Rachel Levy (pictured center), 91, was the daughter of three Nazi-era siblings and lost her parents. She survived to see her family again.
However Rachel, then 14, and her brother Chaskie, 16, were spared. He had Dr Josef Mengele supervise her, and he suggested that she be executed as well.
A delay caused a female SS Guard to hear their pleas and allow them to flee.
Her hiding place was among cooks and she eventually had to trek 21 days from Poland, Bergen-Belsen.
She contracted Typhoid there and witnessed her aunt’s death, along with other horrendous horrors.
She was reunited in 1945 with her brother, and she moved to Britain after the liberation of the camps.
Her name was included in the list of child survivors that were given a British Empire Medal as part of Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018.
The Prince of Wales is pictured chatting with Holocaust survivor Rachel Levy as her portrait was unveiled among six others as part of the exhibition
HELEN ANDERSON
Helen Aronson is one of the seven survivors, whose portraits can be seen in the gallery. She was part of the group of about 750 who were liberated from the Nazi-run Polish ghetto. This group included her mother and brother.
She had divorced her parents, who were murdered by Nazis.
She shares her stories with people all over the country. Today, she says about her painting, “The portrait was excellent and absolutely true to life. It was a great experience.
“I spoke to the prince about the life of a concentration camper and extermination.
“It was something I did not talk about for long, but it has made me very happy. To me, my family is everything.
“It was a special day that will be remembered forever.”
Charles, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, met Holocaust survivor Helen Aronson and her family at the exhibition
The Duchess Of Cornwall poses with Helen Aronson, a survivor and her family as well as Paul Benney (right), at Monday’s exhibition