Holocaust Memorial Event with Renee Salt BEM, a Holocaust survivor

In commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, we invited you to hear the story of Renee Salt BEM, a Holocaust Survivor.

Renee's bio:

Renee was born in Zduńska Wola, Poland, in 1929. After the invasion and occupation of Poland in September 1939, Renee and her family were evicted from their home and thrown out with no possessions and forced into a ghetto that had been established nearby. In 1942 everyone was told to assemble. Renee narrowly avoided being separated from her parents by hiding under her mothers’ coat. They were transported to the Łódź Ghetto. In 1944 they were taken by train to Auschwitz-Birkena, where Renee survived another selection and was transported soon after with her mother to the harbour in Hamburg to work on demolition. In March 1945, Renee and her mother were once again moved, this time to Bergen-Belsen. They were liberated from Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945 by the British Army but Renee’s mother died in hospital 12 days after the liberation.

After the Holocaust, Renee returned to her hometown to try and find any surviving members of her family and found an aunt who was living in Łódź. She and her aunt relocated to Germany in 1945.

Renee subsequently moved to Paris, marrying her husband in 1949 and today has five grandchildren. She has been sharing her wartime experiences for several years, so that people today can try to understand the events of the Holocaust and its essential lessons for the contemporary world.