AT the grand old age of 89, Harry Bibring would be forgiven for slowing down but, for him, that is the furthest thing from his mind.
Austrian born Mr Bibring was barely a teenager when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland but the experience of what followed forced him to grow up quickly.
Ordered to live in a house with 50 other Jewish families, the death of his father in 1940 and the deportation of his mother to the Sobibor death camp in 1942 took his teenage years away from him.
And for Mr Bibring the tales of his younger days need to be passed on to today’s younger generations.
He visited Year 9 pupils at Paulet High School, in Violet Way, Burton, as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s work.
Mr Bibring sought a promise from the pupils that they would never persecute people as others have done before.
He said: “It is very important that the message is heard.
“This is a gesture that people remember. I have a frustration that lessons have not been learned.
“It hasn’t stopped, the prejudice of other people. There is a chain – differentiate, prejudice, hate and then this can lead to genocide and that chain doesn’t break unless you start at the first link.
“Education is the key and the only way to that is to think differently.”
Harry managed to flee to England as part of the Kindertransport, a rescue mission which brought youngsters to the UK. A few years later he met his wife-to-be Muriel.
He added: “I have had a great life. I have a son, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
“But I had no youth. I became self sufficient at the age of 14 or 15 and I missed out on a lot.
“I missed out on mourning my parents’ death but you don’t brood on these things, I’m proud God has given me the strength to do this.”
Mr Bibring travels all over the country from his home in Hertfordshire to tell schoolchildren how he survived the Holocaust.
He adds: “There was a curfew and we had to register with the police.
“We were treated as aliens and laboured as enemy aliens.”
Pupils were engrossed by Mr Bibring’s stories with Olly Bassington, 14, labelling the visit ’emotional’.
He said: “It was very interesting and a very emotional story.
“I was interested to hear why the Nazi Party singled out Jews and to hear that explained first hand. I couldn’t belive it. It is important we remember.”
