The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen Commemorated at Catterick Garrison

Photo credit: The Light Dragoons

Last month, to mark the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, I was honoured to be invited, as a Generation 2 Generation (G2G) speaker, to deliver my father's Belsen liberation presentation at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. The special commemorative event, held on 15th April 2026, was hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) and The Light Dragoons.

Catterick Garrison Photo credit: The Light Dragoons

A short service was given by Padre Dominic Holroyd near the memorial oak tree, planted last year at the 80th anniversary of the liberation by Belsen survivor Mala Tribich MBE and by Alfred Garwood MBE who was born in a Nazi ghetto. Soldiers of the Light Dragoons were addressed by HMDT’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Lopez-Salzedo, and Lt-Col Dan Lenherr, Commanding Officer of The Light Dragoons. There was also a minute silence in memory of all those lives lost in the second world war.

HMDT’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Lopez-Salzedo
Photo credit: The Light Dragoons

81 years ago to the day, on 15 April 1945, the British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen when they found around 60,000 prisoners, most of who were ill and malnourished and dying at a rate of around 500 a day, as well as 10,000 unburied corpses. The Light Dragoons antecedent Regiment, 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars, were one of the first British forces to liberate Bergen-Belsen – among them, my father, Lt-Col Leonard Berney who was stationed there for 14 weeks, helping to organise the relief effort and save as many lives as possible. He later became the Commander of the Belsen Displaced Persons Camp.

John Wood Photo credit: The Light Dragoons

I gave my presentation to around 60 officers in officer's mess of the Light Dragoons. My father hoped that his story, if broadly known, would help prevent future atrocities.

John Wood presenting a copy of his father's book, 

Liberating Belsen Concentration Camp to Lt-Col Dan Lenherr, 

Commanding Officer, The Light Dragoons
Photo credit: The Light Dragoons

The most important message I wanted to get across was the importance of improving Human Rights education as it is the key to building a better and more compassionate society.

Paul Lopez-Salzedo, HMDT’s COO, said: “We are very grateful to The Light Dragoons for their special partnership and for their support in hosting this event. Together, we honour not only those who were murdered at Bergen-Belsen, and the British soldiers who liberated the survivors, but also the 6 million Jewish men, women and children who were killed during the Holocaust.

Lt-Col Dan Lenherr, Commanding Officer, The Light Dragoons, added: “This event served as a powerful reminder that we must not forget the horrors of the past and that we all have a duty to ensure that they are never repeated.”

About Generation 2 Generation

G2G, a Holocaust Education Charity, empowers second and third generation Holocaust survivor descendants to share their family histories with a wide range of audiences. G2G is part of HMDT’s Partnership Group, which brings together sister organisations within the sector to extend the reach and impact of Holocaust Memorial Day and Holocaust education. 

See also:

https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/british-army-marks-bergen-belsen-liberation-anniversary-with-renewed-holocaust-education-call/

https://www.richmondshiretoday.co.uk/catterick-garrison-event-marks-81st-anniversary-of-bergen-belsen-liberation/

https://hmd.org.uk/news/liberation-of-bergen-belsen-concentration-camp/

Stolpersteine* laid in Amsterdam in memory of the family of Holocaust survivor and classmate of Anne Frank, Nanette Blitz König

In Amsterdam on 21 April 2026 at an Anne Frank House-hosted event, Stolpersteine were laid in memory of the family of Holocaust survivor and classmate of Anne Frank, Nanette Blitz König (aged 97). The stones were installed in front of Van Baerlestraat 58, the last place the family freely lived before they fell victim to Nazi terror. On 29 September 1943, they were arrested by the Nazis and later deported to concentration camps via the transit camp, Westerbork. Nanette was then taken to Bergen-Belsen from where she was liberated by the British Army on 15th April 1945.

Four stones were laid:

• Martijn Willem Blitz (father)
  
  
• Helene Victoria Blitz-David (mother)

• Bernard Martijn Blitz (brother)
  
  
• Nanette Blitz König

Judith holds up a picture of Nanette and her brother Bernard, and Martin holds up a picture of Nanette.

A large crowd had gathered to witness the laying of the stones and to hear speeches from family members who had travelled from across the world to be present. Others attending included: Melissa Müller, biographer of Anne Frank; Holocaust educator and Generation2Generation speaker John Wood whose father Lt-Col Leonard Berney was among those who liberated Nanette from Bergen-Belsen; Ronald Leopold, executive director of Anne Frank House, Amsterdam; representatives of Anne Frank House UK and Anne Frank House Brazil; representatives of the Stolpersteine organisation in Amsterdam; Anne Geerse from the ABN AMRO Art and Heritage Foundation; and Liesbeth Heenk, publisher of Nanette's memoir, 'Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen survivor. Classmate of Anne Frank (2018)' as well as other members of Nanette's family.

Judith Arato, John Wood, Martin Konig

The event was also being live broadcast, and watching online were several other members of Nanette's family including Nanette's eldest daughter Elizabeth Helene Kahn who collaborated on a book with Melissa Müller entitled, “Mit dir steht die Welt nicht still' ('With You, the World Keeps Turning - A Story of Love After the Holocaust') that tells her parents' love story from which one learns so much more about the Blitz family. Elizabeth is also the creator of www.foreverafterproject.org, the educational non-profit organization that amplifies voices and stories of survivors and descendants of Holocaust survivors around the world. 

Van Baerlestraat 58, Amsterdam

Sadly, Nanette who lives in São Paulo, Brazil was not able to attend.

Speakers at the ceremony were Martin Joseph Konig (son) who led the event, Judith Marion Arato (daughter) and Judith's son, Thomas Arato (grandson) who spoke for his aunt, Elizabeth Kahn.

Martin Konig said: “Today, we return my mother and her family to the street where their lives were once lived openly and without fear. These stones ensure that their names are not lost to history, but remain part of the city’s living memory. My mother survived to tell her story; her parents and brother did not. We lay these Stolpersteine not only in remembrance of them, but as a quiet, enduring call to conscience for future generations.”

Ronald Leopold, Martin Konig, Levien Rouw, Josephine de Man, Judith Arato

Attendees then visited the Anne Frank House where Levien Rouw, General Coordinator of International Activities in the Department of Education, delivered a talk about Anne in the garden behind the building, followed by a tour of the museum.

*About Stolpersteine

A Stolperstein (which in English means "stumbling block") is a ten-centimetre (four-inch) concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. The Stolpersteine project, initiated by the German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, aims to commemorate persons at the last place that they chose freely to reside, work or study before they fell victim to Nazi terror, forced euthanasia, eugenics, deportation to a concentration or extermination camp, or escaped persecution by emigration or suicide. As of June 2023, 100,000 Stolpersteine have been laid, making the Stolpersteine project the world's largest decentralized memorial. The majority of Stolpersteine commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Others have been placed for Sinti and Romani people (then also called "gypsies"), Poles, homosexuals, the physically or mentally disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, black people, members of the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the anti-Nazi Resistance, the Christian opposition (both Protestants and Catholics), and Freemasons, Spanish Republicans along with International Brigades soldiers in the Spanish Civil War, military deserters, conscientious objectors, escape helpers, capitulators, "habitual criminals", looters, and others charged with treason, military disobedience, or undermining the Nazi military, as well as Allied soldiers.

For more information, please contact:

John Wood
johnalexwood@gmail.com
+44 7771 52000

Media Round-up

De Telegraaf, 22 April 2026

Translation:

ANNE FRANK'S CLASSMATE

Stumbling Stones Unveiled

On Tuesday, four stumbling stones were unveiled in front of a home on Van Baerle Street in Amsterdam in memory of the Jewish residents who were deported and murdered during the Second World War.

Among those who lived at this address was Nanette Blitz, who was friends with Anne Frank as a student at the Jewish Lyceum. The two met again later in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Blitz survived the camp, but her family did not survive the war.

Facebook posts:

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=stolpersteine%20nanette%20blitz

X posts:

https://x.com/search?q=stolpersteine%20nanette%20blitz&src=typed_query&f=live

LinkedIn posts:

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?keywords=stolpersteine%20nanette&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER

Instagram posts:

https://www.google.com/search?q=stolpersteine+%22nanette+blitz%22+site%3Ainstagram.com&num=10

annefrankhouse_official: Last week, Stolpersteine were placed in Amsterdam for the Blitz family. https://www.instagram.com/p/DXrf4iuiN7n/ 

TikTok posts:

https://www.tiktok.com/@annefrankhouse/video/7633790157207964950

YouTube videos:

https://youtube.com/shorts/qZWeLoIf4F4?si=SFKuDG6YSovQLObu

Holocaust Memorial Day 2025

My talk covers my late father's personal account of the liberation of
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, which he published in 2015 (above):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liberating-Belsen-Concentration-Major-General-Nicholas/dp/1511541709/

Church of Scientology London

Lewes Old Grammar School, Lewes

Anne Frank Trust UK's Annual Lunch at the Hilton Park Lane:

with Lord Finkelstein whose mother was rescued by the British Army at Bergen-Belsen

Anne Frank Trust UK's Annual Lunch at the Hilton Park Lane:

with Rob Rinder, TV presenter and barrister

Anne Frank Trust UK's Annual Lunch at the Hilton Park Lane:

with Mala Tribich, Belsen survivor, Queen Camilla, Eva Clarke, Mauthausen survivor 

Anne Frank Trust UK's Annual Lunch at the Hilton Park Lane:

with Emma Barnett, Radio 4 presenter

Buckswood School, Guestling, East Sussex

HMD Hastings Jewish Community Event, White Rock Theatre, Hastings

Forest Hill School, south London

The Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone

World at One, Radio 4, 27th Jan 2025:
Listen here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EZr4Hsj4EkpxmmQV9

Live interview on Sky News:

Watch here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jhax4iSWfbWi2CPn9

Being the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27th January 2025, this was a very busy time for everyone involved with Holocaust education. And the charity for which I am a speaker, Generation 2 Generation, was no exception. Here are some photos of the talks I've been giving recently. 

Many of the audiences said that the talk helped them realise the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the urgent need for effective human rights education in schools. 

Life highlights of Leonard Berney, my father, born 100 years ago today

Leonard Berney 
11th April 1920 - 7th March 2016
(photo: Hy Money)

• Adolphus Leonard Berney was born on 11th April 1920 at 169 Oxford Street, London. He was named after the filmstar Adolph Menjou who his mother found attractive. For some reason, Dad favoured his middle name over his first. ;-) This is the earliest photo I have of him, aged 3.

• A very intelligent boy, he was destined for Cambridge University but WW2 came just at the wrong time.

1939: 2nd Lieut. L Berney, Rotal Engineers, Territorial Army

• In 1939, he and his Anti-Aircraft regiment were mobilized for full-time military service in the defence of London. He took part in countering the Blitz and the V1 flying bomb attacks.
• On 11th April 1944, on Dad's 24th birthday, he was promoted from Captain to Major, becoming one of the youngest Majors in the Britsh Army as 24 was the youngest permitted age for the rank of Major at the time.
• In 1944 for a period of four to five months, Dad was appointed as Instructor to train hitherto static Anti-Aircraft regiments to become mobile in preparation for the invasion of France. Based in Kinmel Park Camp, north Wales, he put six regiments on a two-week training course. With each regiment comprising 600 men, he trained a total of 3,600 men!
• In August 1944, he was in Normandy as Staff Officer, Anti-Aircraft Defense, of XIII Corps of the British 21st Army.
• From 15th April 1945 for a period of 19 weeks, he played a significant role in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp as documented in his 2015 book, Liberating Belsen Concentration Camp.
  
  
  
• In September 1945, he testified in the Belsen Trials at Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, Germany against the men and women of the SS who ran Belsen before its liberation.
• Following his time at Belsen, he was appointed Military Governor of Schleswig-Holstein and was released from the army at the end of 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
• Lamenting, one day, in a bar about not knowing what he was going to do for a career, it turned out that the person he was talking to was Leslie Berker, founder of Berkertex Ltd who happened to be looking for managers at the time and so offered him a job.
  
  
  
• Married fashion model, Pat Purser, (my mother) on 28th July 1951 at Plymouth Registry Office.
  
  

  

• Dad became the father of three sons and three grandchildren. My parents divorced in 1963.
  
  
  
• Dad went on to become General Manager of the firm which, in turn, became the UK's largest clothing manufacturer. The company was originally based in London but moved to Plymouth in around 1950.

Dad giving Reginald Maudling a tour of Berkertex in the late 1950s

• An ardent traveller, Dad became a pilot of light aircraft and flew his own plane to many destinations around Europe and he even once flew to Canada. In fact, he flew himself to 35 countries and 183 airfields. In the 1970s, he flew me and a school friend to Deauville on the north coast of France for lunch! In total, he visited around 150 countries in his lifetime. A veritable explorer!
  
  

  

  Dad and co-pilot, Stephen Bruh, in Narssassuaq, Greenland having flown across the Atlantic in his Piper Twin Comanche G ASMH.

• Dad didn't let his age get in the way of him having fun.
  
  
  
• In his later years, Dad started talking and writing about his experience of liberating Belsen. He wanted future generations to know what happened there in the hope it might help prevent further atrocities. Holocaust deniers also irritated him very much.
• 
  

  

  Delivering his talk on Belsen at Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson on 27th Jan 2014

• He appears in the 2015 documentaries that marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust: Night Will Fall and No Asylum - the untold chapter of Anne Frank's story.
  
  
  
• On 15th April 2015, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belsen, Dad published his book, Liberating Belsen Concentration Camp - a personal account which gives a unique and detailed perspective of the liberation.
  
  

  

  (photo: Hy Money)

• In April 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belsen, filmmaker Mark Gorton released tWWIItter: Leonard Berney's Story - the liberation of Bergen-Belsen which, in my opinion, is a breakthrough in Holocaust education. It imagines social media existed in 1945 and that Dad documented the liberation of the camp on Twitter.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf208A63se4
  
  
  
  
  
• See also: https://www.facebook.com/pg/LiberatingBelsenBook
  and https://www.twitter.com/BelsenBook

A screening of No Asylum at the GSA in the presence of Anne Frank's stepsister, Eva Schloss

Prof. Sean McNamara, Heather Gorniak, Eva Schloss MBE, Marta Miranda, John Wood. Photo credit: Steve Porter

I was honoured to have been invited to an incredible evening at the Guildford School of Acting (GSA), part of the University of Surrey where I studied in the 1980s for my degree. Firstly, there was the screening of No Asylum: The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story in the presence of the incredible Eva Schloss MBE, Anne Frank's stepsister and Auschwitz survivor, followed by a Q&A that I was asked to be part of, representing my father, Belsen liberator, Leonard Berney, author of Liberating Belsen Concentration Camp - a personal account. who appears in No Asylum together with Eva. This was followed by a performance of The Diary of Anne Frank by GSA students which was so professional and also very moving!

Here is a video of the Q&A

The Q&A after the screening of No Asylum

Me with Rabbi Alex Goldberg, University of Surrey Chaplain

Here is the press release issued by GSA about the event:

Eva Schloss MBE, author and Holocaust Survivor, discusses her experiences on the occasion of GSA’s production of “The Diary of Anne Frank”

On December 13th 2019, GSA had the privilege and honour of welcoming Eva Schloss MBE, author, international speaker and holocaust survivor to the University. GSA held a special screening of “No Asylum”, a documentary about the lately discovered papers that meant researchers could, at last, chronicle the journey of Anne Frank’s family. Eva Schloss is the step-sister of Anne Frank, daughter of Otto Frank who features in the film. Also present was John Wood, the son of Major Leonard Berney, the first British Officer to liberate Bergen-Belsen. John, like Eva, makes it his life’s mission to share these first-hand stories, “Lest We Forget”.

The extraordinary screening and Q&A event in December came about serendipitously following Director Nicholas Scriven’s decision to stage the play “The Diary of Anne Frank” with the BA Actor Musicians. The production was a chance to speak to a new generation about the oppressive nature of discrimination and prejudice. Nicholas Scriven's idea to incorporate original music written by Ilse Weber, Pavel Haas and Gideon Klein, all composers that had died in the Holocaust, was particularly poignant. The combination of elements and the talented cast made for an arresting and powerful piece, clearly appreciated by the audiences who gave standing ovations.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play was originally written by Frank Goodrich and Albert Hackett in 1955. It won the Tony Award for Best Play and was then adapted into the Oscar-Nominated Diary of Anne Frank in 1959 prior to being revised in 1997 by Wendy Kesselman.

The cast of Anne Frank attended the screening of “No Asylum” and actors Marta Miranda and Heather Gorniak, (playing the title role Anne Frank and her sister Margot Frank respectively) joined Eva & John and Head of GSA, Sean McNamara on stage afterwards for the Q&A. Cast and audience were both visibly moved to hear these first-hand personal accounts from this tragic chapter in history and Eva’s clear message of tolerance, compassion and indefatigable hope echoed the chiming words of Anne Frank in that tiny attic all those years ago.

In the audience was University of Surrey’s Rabbi Alex Goldberg, who later tweeted “Attended the final performance of GSA’s The Diary of Anne Frank having met with her step-sister Eva Schloss yesterday. Thanks to Nicholas Scrivens and all that I met in rehearsals whose dedication reminded me of Anne’s words “I believe that people are good at heart”." Even now cases of anti-Semitism still regularly feature in the news. In the Q&A that followed the screening, Eva talked about examples of genocide and persecution in the world today and the ever-important relevance of retelling this story and learning from our mistakes.

Photo credit: Steve Porter

Nicholas Scrivens, Programme Leader at GSA, said: “Sadly, Anne Frank’s story is as relevant today as ever, with anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice still rotting society. Its messages, communicated in such a poignant way by GSA’s actor-musicians, need to be heard.”

“One of the things that struck me was that the diary acts as a kind of "window" through which we can begin to approach the Holocaust… when one has knowledge and understanding of what has been before it there is a greater sense of need and obligation to share the story from generation to generation.”

Photo credit: Steve Porter

“Music is an intrinsic part of theatrical storytelling and on the Actor Musician course we integrate music to further the narrative. Rather than simply "scoring" for this project, it was an opportunity to re-visit the work of artists murdered in The Holocaust. The tragic element is that all of these voices were silenced by 1945. But the joy and power of theatre is that a new generation can re-tell their work to the world. We have to remember that the Nazi's aim was not just to eradicate all of the Jews in Europe but to eradicate a culture, its music and its language. Therefore, each performance using their music, words and themes are a defiance and a way of saying - you failed and you will always fail as long as people have empathy and tell the stories and sing these songs.”

“I have never worked with a company of students so dedicated or committed to the telling of one story. In their own time and together as an ensemble they visited the Imperial War Museum, The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, some journeying on to visit Auschwitz. Their research informing every choice and every moment of the play.”

The BA (Hons) Actor Musician programme is a relatively new GSA course, taught by industry-leading professionals, that develops the actor-musician’s skills to be able to take advantage of the ever-growing demand for versatile professional performers who can combine superb acting ability with a high standard of musicianship.

'And Then They Came for Me' in the presence of Eva Schloss at Solihull School

I was honoured to be invited back to Solihull School on Monday 23rd September 2019, the previous time being last January for the screening of No Asylum - the Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story in the presence of Holocaust survivor and Anne Frank's stepsister, Eva Schloss. This time it was for a performance of And Then They Came For Me by James Still (Moondog Productions), also in the presence of Eva Schloss.

The play is, essentially, a very real and graphic multi-media representation of Eva's entire Holocaust experience. It brings it home to you much more effectively than reading about it or even watching it on film. And Then They Came For Me seems to be permanently on tour, so go and watch it - it's a must-see! For me, it was an unforgettable experience which, I feel, should be part of every school's Holocaust education curriculum.

Back row:
David Lloyd Headmaster: John Wood, son of Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Berney, Bergen Belsen liberator; The Right Honourable The Lord Glasman, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research UK
Front row:
Mark Penney Head of the Junior School; Diana Crabtree; Eva Schloss MBE; Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands, John Crabtree OBE

Headmaster of Solihull School, David Lloyd, addressing the audience before the start of the play, 
with Eva Schloss and many other dignitaries in the front row. 

Patrick Withey as a Hitler Youth

Nazi officials (Patrick Withey and Benjamin Hardy-Phillips) arresting Eva (Gemma Reynolds) 

A testimony by Eva plays on the big screen while Patrick, Benjamin and Gemma recreate Eva's interrogation 

The Hitler Youth telling us how he was ordered to strangle his puppy, 
otherwise he'd never be a real German 

The cast on stage with Eva

After the play, Eva answered questions from Mark Penney, Head of the Junior School 

(organiser of the event) and from the audience

Eva with the cast after the show (left to right: Eva Schloss, Patrick Withey, Savannah Betts, 
Benjamin Hardy-Phillips, Gemma Reynolds)