Holocaust Survivor, Steven Frank Shares his Story

I, like many others, had the pleasure of witnessing Steven Frank speak this Thursday lunchtime. His story was perhaps the most moving one I’ve ever heard, and his words were truly inspiring. From very early childhood, Mr Frank had noticed that other children would treat him differently purely because he was Jewish. He couldn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed into restaurants, why he had to wear a yellow star to identify himself or why his Jewish classmates seemed to disappear constantly.

From here, Mr Frank detailed his transportation to an internment camp in northern Netherlands. It was there that a group of Nazis released a dog on him, laughing as the dog attacked him, leaving him bruised, bleeding and in severe pain. After that, he underwent a gruelling 39-hour journey trapped in a windowless, dark cattle car, with only four holes for air. He was then taken on to another internment camp outside Prague, where he was forced to stay in despicable conditions: disease was rife, they were grossly underfed, and they were kept in rooms where hundreds of them would have to sleep in an extremely confined space. It was in that internment camp that a British air-force aeroplane released a series of bullets (intended to strike the Nazis) that only just missed Mr Frank, hitting and killing an elderly man that Mr Frank had grown to have the utmost respect and love for.

Steven Frank then went on to describe more of the horrors that took place in that camp - families who only had each other left to live for would be split up and sent to concentration camps. For Mr Frank, like for many others, to experience all of this as a child was truly devastating – his strength despite his struggle acts as an inspiration for us all.

The image which has lodged itself in my memory more than any other was Steven Frank’s description of a man who, before being sent away, asked Mr Frank to look after his tomato plant. Mr Frank remarked that to this day, every time he gardens, he sees that man. I chose this moment because I thought it perfectly represented the legacies of the people lost – despite that man likely having his life ripped away from him too soon his memory lives on. In a similar fashion, Mr Frank ended his talk with a photo of his blossoming, large and happy family – a bittersweet finale to a captivating talk. A summation of Steven Frank’s last words would be, “they can cut down the tree, but the roots will survive and grow back”.

His positivity, despite living through one of history’s bleakest periods, shows us the strength of the human spirit. Living in a generation that’ll be the last to hear first-hand accounts of the holocaust, it is now more imperative than ever before that we remember the tragedy and honour the legacy of the several million lives lost. While nothing can bring them back, they live on in our words, in our minds and in our hearts. Let us never forget them and let us never repeat the mistakes of the past.