Born in Lorraine, desperate to escape the occupying Nazis she and her family went on the run and left everything behind. By 1942 they were hiding in their own country, living in constant fear of capture but after two years the secret police tracked them down. Her brothers attempted to escape but, along with the rest of the family, they were all caught and deported to Auschwitz in June 1944. Freda was then 21. From there she was moved onto Bergen-Belsen and afterwards to two other camps (Ragun and Theresienstadt). Freda was liberated in Theresienstadt in May 1945 and arrived in England in 1948 where she married. She has two daughters with whom she travelled to Auschwitz in 2008 (for the first time since her incarceration there) and a film about her journey there was shown on BBC’s Blue Peter in January 2009.    

 

Marcel Ladenheim

Survived the war in France, being hidden after his father, aged 32, was captured and sent to Auschwitz in 1941. He was sheltered during the War by Olga Masoli and her sister Esther. Marcel is a fervent follower of news and happenings regarding persecution of Jews and the views expressed in today’s press regarding Israel and its neighbours.

 

There were approximately 350,000 Jews in France at the time of the country’s defeat by Germany in 1940, many of whom were already refugees who had fled Nazi persecution in Germany and other countries. The history of the treatment of Jews in France and the camps there was a very sensitive and taboo subject after the war. For more than 40 years, the French Government refused to admit the responsibility of the Petain Regime and the French police in the treatment and deportation of the French Jews to various concentration camps in Germany and Poland where very few survived.

 

The evening will, as usual, be attended by a number of dignitaries and Western European Ambassadors or their representatives.

 

The Yom Hashoah remembrance evening will start promptly at 8:00pm and end by 10.00pm. Members of the community are invited to attend and encouraged to bring as many members of their family, particularly teenagers, and friends with them.  The evening is free and refreshments will be served at the end of the evening.