Harry Olmer was born in 1927 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He and his five siblings had a happy childhood, staying with their grandmother Rochel Leah every summer in Charsznica, a rural area surrounded by woods.
When war broke out, the Germans took over Sosnowiec. In 1942, Harry was taken to a concentration camp in Plaszów, working 12-hour shifts at a railway embankment on a small cup of coffee and lump of bread.
Gruelling labour at Buchenwald and Schlieben left Harry dreadfully ill and liberation couldn't come soon enough. In 1945, he came to England as one of the 'Windermere Boys'. Despite arriving in the UK with nothing, Harry built a successful life, studying dentistry at Glasgow University, marrying Margaret Lunzer, having four children and eight grandchildren and retiring as a dentist at 86.
Harry's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
- 160 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Table of contents
- Front matter
- My Voice Project
- Dedication
- Contents
- 1 – My childhood in Poland
- 2 – A lucky escape
- 3 – Germans take over our town
- 4 – Working for the Germans
- 5 – Selections and random shootings
- 6 – My father and brother escape Płaszów
- 7 – Bribing the camp commander
- 8 – Death came in yellow
- 9 – White chocolate at Buchenwald
- 10 – An explosion at Schlieben
- 11 – Fighting for my life in Theresienstadt
- 12 – Becoming human again in Windermere
- 13 – Learning English and making friends
- 14 – Discovering my new career
- 15 – Studying dentistry and dissecting bodies
- 16 – Reuniting with my brother and sister
- 17 – The start of my working life
- 18 – Meeting my wife Margaret
- 19 – A dental officer in the British army
- 20 – Building a practice and our family
- 21 – Going back to my roots in Poland
- 22 – The importance of Holocaust education
- 23 – My brushes with royalty
- 24 – Giving up work, eventually
- 25 – My family and my legacy
- Glossary
- My Voice volunteers
- About The Fed
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Yes, you can access My Voice: Harry Olmer by in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Jewish History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.