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The My Voice Project is a unique initiative by The Fed, Manchester's leading social care charity serving the Jewish community. The My Voice Project empowers Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK to share their entire life stories including experiences before, during and after the war years. This project involves a bespoke methodological approach, producing books that preserve their unique voices. The My Voice Project ensures firsthand accounts are remembered and valued for future generations, highlighting the critical role of individual perspectives in ensuring a deeper historical understanding.
Harry Olmer was born in 1927 in Sosnowiec in south west Poland. He and his five siblings had a happy childhood, staying with their grandmother Rochel Leah every summer in rural Charsznica.
Nazi Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1939. The Nazis immediately targeted Poland's 3.5 million Jews, looting homes, burning properties and publicly humiliating them. Harry and his family left for Charsznica then returned to Sosnowiec a month later to find the German army had invaded their town, destroying synagogues and shutting the Jewish schools. Harry was forced to clear snow and do back-breaking work in a brick factory for the Germans.
In 1942, the Jews were assembled and loaded onto trucks. Stopping in an open field, men were separated from women and Harry's mother, two sisters, grandmother and aunts were all taken to Belzec and murdered. Harry was taken to a concentration camp in Plaszów, working 12-hour shifts at a railway embankment.
Harry was sent to Skarzysko-Kamienna and put to work, where he had a lucky escape from deadly picric acid. Gruelling labour at Buchenwald and Schlieben left Harry dreadfully ill and liberation couldn't come soon enough. In 1945, he came to England to recuperate, becoming a 'Windermere Boy'. Despite arriving in the UK with nothing, Harry built a successful life, studying dentistry at Glasgow University, marrying Margaret, having a family and only retiring in his 80s.
Harry's book is part of the My Voice book collection.
About the author
The Fed is Manchester's leading social care charity serving the Jewish community. In June of 2021, The Fed were awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service for the My Voice Project, the highest possible accolade for a voluntary sector group.
