27/01/2020
As we mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I am reminded of a passage from an audiobook written by a survivor.
'100 Miracles' by Zuzana Růžičková - was penned by a Czech woman, who went on to become an internationally renowned classical harpsicordist.
Here at Doll's House Studios, we occasionally get the opportunity to record some truly remarkable memoirs, and this book, which Lara narrated last year for it's audibook publication, has stayed with me.
Indeed, I considered it to be an honour and a privilege to listen to a real account from someone who was actually there.
Zuzana was also at Bergen-Belsen too, when it was liberated by the British in April 15, 1945 - 3 months after Auschwitz.
Here is one short passage from her book - another 'miracle' - or act of Fate - which gives rise to the title of her memoirs - that resulted in her surviving ... whilst others perished.
I was struck at the time by the tragic irony that it was nourishment itself, offered in an act of kindness, that proved to be the undoing of those who failed to enjoy their liberation beyond a few short hours:
Here is that passage:
When the British heard that some prisoners had been shot, and examined aerial photographs taken by a reconnaissance plane that showed piles of dead bodies lying around the camp, senior officers decided to send a unit into Bergen-Belsen to find out what was going on. If they hadn’t, we would have died there.
Everyone crowded around our stunned liberators, weeping and laughing and begging for food. The terrible thing was that, quite understandably, the soldiers gave us everything they had – all their rations. This was deadly. I was thrown a tin of fatty luncheon meat, which I devoured immediately and somehow survived. Sadly, many others didn’t and an untold number died in that way because, having had nothing to eat for so long, their digestive systems absolutely couldn’t take it. Food was fatal. After eating the luncheon meat I was terribly sick, which probably saved me.
