Holocaust Talk

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On Thursday 8th March our History students had the great privilege of hearing from Holocaust survivor, Marcel Ladenheim. Marcel was born in Paris in 1939. In May 1941 Marcel’s father was arrested by the French police, leaving his mother alone with a new-born baby and two year old Marcel. Realising the desperate situation, she decided to go into hiding with the children but unfortunately this stressful situation led to her having a breakdown and she was hospitalised. The family Marcel had been living with realised how dangerous it was for them to harbour Jews and they encouraged Marcel to seek the protection of two sisters, Olga and Esther Masoli, who hid him for the duration of the war. Marcel’s father was killed in Auschwitz but his mother survived. However, she was not able to care for her boys and in 1948 Marcel and his brother moved to Manchester to live with their aunt. Marcel studied at Manchester University and worked as a dentist. Marcel, who represents the Holocaust Educational Trust, talked of not only his own story but also of the tragic story of the many French Jewish children who were sent to their deaths in Auschwitz.