Students are on message

THE WEYBRIDGE-BASED North West Surrey Synagogue welcomed 530 pupils from local schools over the HMD period for an educational programme.

Speakers included Marion Strehlow, who was incarcerated in Theresienstadt from the age of five until her liberation as an 11-year-old. After hearing about her experiences and asking questions, pupils from Heathside School lit memorial candles. They also handed Mrs Strehlow personal messages they had written to her.

Heathside teacher Nick Wentland said: “It was very hard for them to comprehend how such a young child could have endured such terrible treatment. The lesson the pupils will take with them is Mrs Strehlow’s perspective that even after all she experienced, she did not feel any hate for her persecutors.”