Surviving the Holocaust: John Hajdu MBE's Story

Emma-Louise Amanshia meets Holocaust survivor John Hajdu MBE to hear his powerful testimony.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937, John grew up in a middle-class Jewish family. During World War II, Hungary allied with Nazi Germany, subjecting Jewish populations to increasing persecution. After Nazi occupation in 1944, Hungarian Jews were forced into ghettos or deported to concentration camps. John's mother was sent to Mauthausen, but he survived through the quick thinking of his aunt and lived in hiding before moving to the Budapest ghetto.

The retreating Nazis planned to destroy the ghetto, but it was liberated by the Soviet army in early 1945. After the war, John reunited with his mother and lived in post-war Hungary, enduring further upheaval, including a failed uprising against Soviet rule. In 1956, they escaped to Austria and later resettled in the UK.

Holocaust Memorial Day, marked on 27 January, commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. The theme for 2025, 'For a Better Future,' highlights the importance of learning from history to build a more just and peaceful world.

Read Original Article: BBC

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