To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Bedales listened to a talk by the daughter of one of the survivors.

For the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, senior students heard a powerful talk from Gloria Silver, who shared her father’s miraculous survival during one of history’s darkest chapters.

Tony Chuwen grew up in Poland but following the outbreak of World War II, he was incarcerated in two concentration camps. He showed great resourcefulness and bravery to escape his captors by jumping off a moving train and his final escape involved skiing alone for three days over the frozen sea to neutral Sweden.

The audience of Bedales students and staff were clearly moved by Gloria’s account of her father’s experiences. They took the opportunity to discuss the important issues raised, including any parallels between the antisemitism of the 1930s and the present day, picking up on the powerful words of Holocaust survivor and writer Primo Levi: “It happened, so it can happen again.”

Gloria called for tolerance and kindness, reminding everyone that people are all members of the human race. Afterwards, students continued discussions with Gloria and her husband over supper.

The talk was introduced with a beautifully evocative piece of Jewish music Nigun performed by student Bea on violin accompanied by visiting music teacher Hiroko Banks on piano.

The Nigun is a wordless prayer which transcends the ability of words to communicate, and the Jewish composer Ernst Bloch wrote this haunting version for violin and piano in 1923. Gloria made a powerful point after Bea’s wonderful performance that this type of music was completely eradicated from areas in Poland where once music had been a highly celebrated part of life in all Jewish communities.

Almost a century ago, Bedales became a safe haven for Jewish students who were forced to leave Germany and surrounding countries in the 1930s. A German teacher who had been replaced in his progressive school in Hamburg also came to Bedales and was able to help assimilate the new arrivals.

In more recent years, Bedales has established an Emergency Refugee Fund to support displaced young people, which has seen students come to the School from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.