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Internationales Bildungs- und Begegnungswerk in Dortmund

Eva Weyl and Micha Schliesser – Contemporary witnesses of the holocaust visit schools in Dortmund

Eva Weyl and Micha Schliesser – Contemporary witnesses of the holocaust visit schools in Dortmund

Of the 107 000 people, who were deported to the “Central refugee camp” Westerbork in the Netherlands, only 5000 survived: On the 10th of February 2016, two of them were guests in Dortmund. In several schools and one youth club, Eva Weyl and Micha Schliesser reported on how they escaped the Holocaust, even though they were of Jewish origin. The Dortmund Youth Ring and the International Association for Education and Exchange enabled the talks with the contemporary witnesses.

Eva Weyl zwischen ihrem Publikum. Foto: Stephan Schütze

Eva Weyl in the midst of her audience. Photo: Stephan Schütze

In the morning, Eva Weyl reported at the Droste-Hülshoff middle school in Dortmund-Kirchlinde, how she first fled to the Netherlands, but finally was captured by the National Socialists and brought to the “Police youth transit camp” Westerbork. Only with great luck, she escaped the assured deportation to Auschwitz: The scheduled train departure was cancelled due to a Canadian bombing. Pupils of the 10th grade and members of the anti-racist working group (offered to pupils from all grades) participated in the contemporary witness talk.

Today, on the 11th of February 2016, Micha Schliesser was guest at the Weingarten primary school in Hörde. He was born in Berlin and also brought to the Westerbork camp as a child – like Bertha Mathilde Lewy, whose fate was already a topic of intense work among the fourth-graders.

2016-02-10- Micha Schliesser in der Weingarten-Grundschule

Micha Schliesser reports to the pupils of Weingarten primary school

Eva Weyl also was a guest at the youth club Aplerbeck on Tuesday, the 9th of February 2016, and on Thursday, the 11th of February 2016, at Käthe-Kollwitz high school. There, pupils are currently intensively preparing for their memorial trip to Weimar.

Additionally, Micha Schliesser reported on Tuesday at Westfalen-Kolleg (report), on Wednesday at Theodor-Heuß middle school and later at Anna-Zillken-Berufskolleg, and on Thursday at the Weingarten primary school and Gartenstadt comprehensive school, how he as a child, escaped the grasp of the National Socialists.