Memories of the Holocaust

Rev Hardman was the first Jewish chaplain to enter Belsen when it was liberated. He vividly described the horrific scenes which confronted him, and saw between 15,000 and 20,000 corpses lying unburied in the open.

While a majority of those tortured, abused and killed were Jewish, there were substantial numbers of others, and in particular terrible suffering was inflicted on Hungarian gypsies. Rev Hardman said that there must be no forgetting the horrors of the Holocaust because there is evidence today that anti-Semitism is on the increase. Examples were given of the cruel and savage ways in which the victims were dehumanised, brutalised and killed. Just one example will be given here to illustrate the type of atrocity perpetrated. A man was shot and one of his eyes gouged out. A young man, who may have been the dead man's son, was made to stand with the gouged-out eye between his lips and his arms held above his head. When he could no longer maintain this position he was savagely beaten and then killed. (One of those who took part in the beating was the woman camp guard who was eventually hanged by the Allies).

"It Was Obvious That The Government Knew..."
The question of how much was known by the British government was discussed, and it was obvious that the government knew of the atrocities early on in the war, although information was kept from the public at large. There was the incident of the Polish Jew who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto, arrived in England, publicised the wholesale slaughter of the Jews, and implored that some action be taken. When his protests received scant government acknowledgement he committed suicide by burning himself to death outside No 10 Downing Street.

Many of the soldiers offered the emaciated victims their rations. In view of the starvation, extreme torture, unspeakable degradation and inhuman treatment they had received a considerable number of the victims were so ill they could not be saved, and in fact around 13,000 died after liberation. Rev Hardman said that human beings cannot ask God to save them without doing something themselves. It is not God alone who saves, he uses human beings as his agents.

Alison Wood is a Christian and was Personnel Officer of the Jewish Relief Unit which consisted of around 100 personnel whose task was to undertake the all too necessary relief work following liberation. The unit was organised in this country and as liberation approached the unit waited in Holland pending the opportunity to enter the camps. She expressed surprise at how little was known, or allowed to be told in this country, of what was going on in the camps. Furthermore, although many of the captives desperately needed nursing, British nurses were prevented from going as conditions were considered "too filthy"! Part of the work undertaken by the Jewish Relief Unit was to give some basic education to the children (with very makeshift resources), and organise recreational activities for them, football being popular.

Victims Treated As Prisoners Of War
One aspect of the liberation of the camps was peculiar in so far as the victims, who were of course innocent of any crimes, were treated by the allies as Prisoners of War. They were not allowed to leave the camp - one reason being the prevalence of Typhus. If they had left they would have had no rations, no identity cards, no Marks, and in short they wouldn't have survived. (The Germans themselves were on the point of starvation). In addition the victims ran the risk, if they "made a run for it" of being shot! They were also forbidden to send letters to the outside world, but were permitted to send a brief postcard. Personal documentation was lost and many of the inmates were categorised as displaced persons. Belsen was not set up as an extermination camp so there were no gas chambers, but it had two crematoria. In 1944 Himler visited the camp to discuss how to kill the inmates. Gas was considered but it was decided to do it by starvation.

Soldiers Highly Praised
Both speakers paid tribute to the ordinary British soldiers who liberated the camp and related some moving incidents. The soldiers were highly praised and personal testimonies regarding their actions and heroism can be seen at the Imperial War Museum. Mention was made that some 60 to 70 German guards were still in the camp when it was liberated, and they were arrested. Although the inmates had plenty of opportunity to kill them, not one was attacked. One inmate told Rev Hardman that although he had been in the camp for 3½ years, his parents had been killed, and he had had the opportunity to kill the guards, "my Jewish consciousness wouldn't allow me to kill them".

Challenge to Faith
Both speakers discussed the effect of the horrors on religious faith. Rev Hardman lost his faith and subsequently regained it. He thought that getting married and the birth of his children may have been a contributing influence. Alison Wood said that the horrors had caused her to re-evaluate her Christian faith, and to become more conscious of Christianity's Jewish roots. She also said that on the first anniversary of the liberation a memorial service was held in the camp at the place where there were the mounds of the mass graves. The service was attended by the Jewish survivors, who had been moved out of the camp to nearby barracks, and various (gentile) dignitaries, army officers, and representatives of various organisations. The survivors became hysterical - crying and "emotionally outpouring" the grief and suffering they endured. The various dignitaries just left because they were completely unnerved and couldn't face the emotional trauma they were witnessing.

The British Government's encouragement of an annual commemoration of the Holocaust by inaugurating "Holocaust Remembrance Day" was discussed. On the one hand, as illustrated by the reactions at the Belsen memorial service people find it hard to face, and therefore want to forget, the horror of it all. On the other hand if we allow mankind to forget, we are facilitating the emergence of further atrocities.

We Must Remember
The two speakers, and points raised by members of the audience, reinforced the consensus of the meeting that it is vital to continue efforts to maintain awareness of the atrocities of the Holocaust. A premise behind this necessity is that, by remembering, mankind will not allow them to happen again. However it is a disturbing fact that in spite of efforts to date to maintain the memory of the Holocaust in the public consciousness, anti-semitism and neo-nazism are on the increase.

- Bernard Tiley