THE moving story of a Holocaust survivor who managed to live through the horrors of Auschwitz was shared to people young and old in Okehampton last week.

Okehampton College offered the community and students the rare opportunity to hear from Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipler as part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET).

Mr Shipler was born in 1930 to a Jewish family in Lodz, Poland. In 1940, he and his grandparents were forced to move into the Lodz ghetto. He managed to remain in the ghetto until its liquidation in 1944, when he and the other survivors of the ghetto were sent to the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Nearing the end of the war and with the Russians advancing, Mr Shipler and the rest of his group were sent on a death march. Upon arriving in the German naval town of Neustadt, there was an attack by the Royal Air Force. During the chaos that followed, he realised that all of the Nazis had left. They were liberated on May 3, 1945.

He finally arrived in the UK in 1947, where he married and had a family. He now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Janet and regularly shares his testimony in schools across the country.

Mr Shipler said: ’Doing things like this and telling my story is an important part of my life. Especially telling it to young people, telling them about the racism, the prejudice and the hatred that made it all happen.

‘Young people are the most important people in the world and they can do a hell of a lot to change our future. It is their job to do it and make things better. To do that they need to know about the past.

‘It has been a pleasure to come to Okehampton and speak to the wonderful young people here. I always think, why do schools hunt me down and ask me to speak? A man with no education like me. But you have no idea what I get out of sharing my story.’

Last Thursday, students from the Dartmoor Federation of schools took part in workshops based on tolerance and equality before hearing a testimony from Mr Shipler about his experiences. Students were able to ask him questions to increase their understanding of the Holocaust.

Mr Shipler also held a talk in the college’s Octagon Theatre the night before for members of the community to come along and hear his story. The college planted a tree to commemorate Mr Shipler’s visit.

College principal Daryll Chapman said: ’This has been a great opportunity for us to reflect on the past. As Zigi said to us, there is nothing we can do to change the past. But it is fully in our power to change the future. It is also in our power to make sure we never forget what happened and to learn lessons from our past.’

Mr Chapman expressed his thanks to Okehampton Lions for its role in bringing Mr Shipler to the college and to Year 13 students Caleb Stevens and Harriet van Houten for all their hard work organising the event.

The visit was part of the HET’s extensive year round outreach programme, which is available to schools throughout the UK. The HET also organises a trip for two students from each school to travel and visit a concentration camp.

Harriet and Caleb travelled to Auschwitz in March. The pair were instrumental in organising Mr Shipler’s visit to the college.

Caleb said: ‘The children and members of the community who came to hear Zigi speak got an awful lot out of it. We must never forget what happen and use opportunities like this to further educate people about the past and make sure that we do not repeat the mistake of past generations.’

Harriet said: ‘Zigi said to us that he thought people who heard him talk might get bored — he was mesmerising. His story is very moving and an important one to share.’

Zigi Shipler planted a tree at Okehampton College to commemorate his visit. Pictured with Mr Shipler is his wife Janet, college principal Daryll Chapman, Walter Jory, Okehampton?Lions’ president, Harriet van Houte and Caleb Stevens and other college students.

Picture by Tom French