Harry Olmer MBE, travelled all the way from London to join over 40 trekkers who were walking across the Lake District to fundraise for the My Voice Project. Harry, whose book ‘My revenge on Hitler is my family’, was published by the My Voice Project in July 2024, shared a personal message of thanks with the group.
The trek, jointly organised with Regenesis, incorporated several significant landmarks where the Windermere ‘Boys’ (child Holocaust Survivors, who were admitted to the UK), recuperated after surviving the horrors of the Holocaust, 80 years ago and began to rebuild their lives. Approximately 300 boys and girls were welcomed to Windermere, under this scheme in 1945.
The trek began with a walk from Carlisle Airport to Penrith, which was around 25 kilometres. Day two involved a 22km walk from Penrith to Howtown and then trekkers rested their weary legs on the coach before undertaking the final leg of the trek, reaching the Calgarth Estate, where the ‘Boys’ lived while they were recuperating.
The group of trekkers, which included My Voice volunteers from London and Manchester, Fed trustees, staff members as well as keen walkers, stood on the jetty where the ‘Boys’ learnt to swim and passed the fields where they played football and camped.
The trek concluded by hearing deeply moving readings at the Lakes School, which sits on the former Calgarth Estate. The readings were based on extracts of My Voice books about the Windermere Boys’ time in Calgarth. Out of the 49 books in the My Voice collection, six books feature experiences from those who had lived in Windermere, including: Ike Alterman BEM, Jack Aizenberg, Sam Laskier, Lydia Tischler and Abraham Pawlowski.
Trekkers and staff from the Lakes School were also fortunate to hear about the experiences of David Sommer, Mayer Bomsztyk and Norman Friedman, who were also at Calgarth, but who sadly passed away before being able to share their stories with the My Voice Project.
The trek so far raised £57,000 for the My Voice project.
Read extra coverage of the trek in the Jewish News.
