Staff and students at Pipers Corner School were delighted to welcome Holocaust Survivor, Gena Turgel MBE, to the School today. Mrs Turgel who is now in her 80s came to the School to tell her remarkable story of courage and ultimate survival.

Following the outbreak of World War Two, Mrs Turgel, a Polish born Jew, was forced, along with her family, first into a Jewish ghetto and then onto concentration camps. She lost five of her brothers and sisters in the holocaust but amazingly, she and her mother somehow survived time spent at Plaszow, Auschwitz and Belson.

Whilst at the school, Mrs Turgel spoke quietly and eloquently about the persecution she and others suffered at the hands of the Nazis. The experience really gave a sense of the horrors of the holocaust and helped the girls at Pipers to understand in part what it was like to live through it. Listening first-hand to the personal experiences of Mrs Turgel ultimately brought home to them the reality of the devastation that can be caused by extremism and racism.

Arranged via the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) the talk by Mrs Turgel highlighted important lessons to be learned for today. Mrs Turgel herself told the girls that by sharing her story she hopes “that future generations will build bridges between nations regardless of religion and have peace.”

Later in the term, two of our year 12 girls are taking part in the Holocaust Educational Trust “Lessons from Auschwitz Project” and will be going on a one-day visit to the former camp to witness for themselves the place in which so many people lost their lives.

**ENDS**

For more information contact:
Fran Knight, Marketing and Communications Manager, Pipers Corner School. Telephone 01494 719 850 or email fknight@piperscorner.co.uk

Photo shows:
Mrs H Ness-Gifford, Headmistress at Pipers Corner and Mrs Gena Turgel MBE.