Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen Survivor - Classmate of Anne Frank

by Nanette Blitz Konig

On 27th January 2018, Holocaust Memorial Day 2018, Nanette's book "Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen Survivor - Classmate of Anne Frank" was released.

My connection with Nanette is through my late father, Belsen liberator, Leonard Berney. As described in her book, it was my father who helped Nanette recover from the terrible ordeal she had just been through of being a prisoner in the most inhospitable conditions imaginable, losing all members of her family (except her two aunts in London), disease and malnutrition. On page 85, she writes:

"I have thankful, tender recollections of that man. After all, as a member of the British Army, he saved my life. He was one of those who entered the camp to free us, who were shocked and had compassion for our predicament - innocent people who had been subjected to the worst punishments. On top of that, he wrote letters to help me communicate with my family. That was the first time someone offered me any help in months. It was a good feeling to remember that there were still good people in the world."

And Nanette appears in my father's 2015 book "Liberating Belsen Concentration Camp - A Personal Account" in that she wrote one of the Forewords of the book.

Nanette, in fact, published her book in Brazilian Portuguese some time ago (she lives in São Paulo), but was keen to get it published in English. So she and her family asked me if I could help make this a reality. By chance, I came across Amsterdam Publishers on Twitter who appeared to be, and have since proved to be, a perfect fit!

Filmed Lecture of First-hand Account of the Liberation of Belsen Concentration Camp Released Online

Leonard Berney

1 hour lecture delivered by Leonard Berney, Lt-Col R.A. T.D.(Rtd), in August 2008, aboard 'MV The World' cruise ship.

http://www.youtube.com/user/uptonecouk?feature=mhum#p/c/6062318D5E7402F7

Belsen Concentration Camp in Lower Saxony, southwest of the town of Bergen, was liberated by the British Army on 15th April 1945. Between 1943 and 1945, an estimated 50,000 people died there.

Leonard Berney, then aged 25, was at that time an army major and was one of the officers who first entered the camp. He was responsible for the evacuation of the inmates out of the "horror camp" and subsequently was the Commandant of the Displaced Persons Camp, caring for some 30,000 of the ex-prisoners. Belsen DP Camp was the largest DP camp in Germany.

Mr Berney gives his first-hand account of his experiences in August 2008 aboard 'MV The World' cruise ship. Includes a question and answer session from the audience at the end.