Islington Tribune - News: ‘Sheer will’ kept death camp survivor alive

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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 1 February 2008

Mirjam Finkelstein with Francine Mahilu, 9, and Jeron Worrel, 9, from St John the Evangelist School and council leader James Kempton and Deputy Mayor Lib Dem councillor Stefan Kasprzyk.

‘Sheer will’ kept death camp survivor alive

A PENSIONER who spent a year in a Nazi death camp as a girl spoke movingly about her experiences this week – and of her “sheer will to live”.
Mirjam Finkelstein, 74, addressed schoolchildren at a magnolia tree planting ceremony to commemorate the Holocaust, at St Mary’s Church, in Upper Street, Islington, on Monday.
Mrs Finkelstein was aged 10 when she was sent to Belsen camp with her mother and two sisters.
“Sadly, my mother died the very night we were freed by the Allies,” she said.
“I had a sheer will to live. People who had lost their will to live – and you could see it in their eyes – weren’t going to last long.”
The mother of three grown-up children and eight grandchildren said that it was important that today’s children learned about the Holocaust.
“We must pay attention to racism in any form,” she added. “Because it can quite easily lead to murder.”

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