Last Sunday (March 2) Holocaust survivor and My Voice storyteller Lydia Tischler shared her unique perspective on the Holocaust to a packed room of over 100 people at Brondesbury Park synagogue, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค โ๐
๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐, ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐”, which has been published in partnership with the Yad Vashem UK Foundation.To an enraptured crowd, Lydia spoke about the horrors of the ghetto-camp at Theresienstadt where she spent two years before volunteering to go to Auschwitz after learning that her mother and sister were being transported there. She spoke of the tragedy of her motherโs murder in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and how she and her sister Rutka dug trenches at the labour camp of Oederan in Germany and held onto their integrity – just.
Czech-born Lydia, an eminent child psychotherapist who trained with Anna Freud and is still working at 96, answered questions from the audience in her inimitable straight-talking manner, explaining how fortunate she was to have had the opportunity to undergo analysis to process her trauma early on as she was able to get distance and talk about her Holocaust experiences, โwithout it churning me up every timeโ.
Lydia also spoke about the Holocaust being a taboo subject for many years in Israel for reasons of shame, โthat we allowed ourselves to be slaughtered like thatโ and gave her personal views on Holocaust deniers: โThey donโt want to know the truth because they might have been Holocaust perpetrators. You have to deny something because youโre so afraid of being a part of it.โ
Daniella Selig, Lydiaโs My Voice befriender and interviewer, who kindly sponsored the tea, also spoke about the befriending experience calling it โexhilarating, painful, heart-breaking and at times really, really difficult.โ She also praised Lydiaโs strength and fortitude and hoped that all children can learn, โthat there is strength and hope to be found in hard times.โ
Juliette Pearce, Manager of The Fed’s My Voice project, marvelled at the success of the London project, thanking Lydia, Daniella and the Brondesbury Park community saying, โthere was so much positivity in the room.โ Juliette added, โThis is a very exciting time for the My Voice project. The My Voice books are now being used to educate the next generation across the UK so they can read and learn from these inspirational people.โ
To purchase Lydia’s book click here – https://myvoice.org.uk/product/lydia-tischler/