On 26 March 2025 we welcomed guest speaker Eva Clarke BEM, who was born in a Nazi concentration camp, to share her family's experiences of the Holocaust.
Year 9 Religions & Ethics students had been studying the Holocaust in previous weeks, and student Oli Weller told staff that one of his relatives is a Holocaust survivor and represents the Holocaust Educational Trust. Eva Clarke, whose parents were held in Ghettos and Camps such as Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Mauthausen, at different times during World War 2, joined a class of students to tell her family's moving story, and to detail her own remarkable arrival into the world.
Eva was born to her mother Anka Nathan on 29 April 1945, upon arrival at Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria. Anka had such a shock when she saw the name of this notorious camp that her labour began and Eva was born on a cart, in the open air without any medical assistance. By this stage, Anka weighed only about 5 stone (35 kg) – she had the appearance of 'a scarcely living pregnant skeleton' - and Eva was just 3lbs (1.5 kg) newborn. If the camp's gas chambers were functioning, and if American forces hadn’t liberated Mauthausen just days after Eva’s birth, neither mother nor child would have survived.
Eva described family details from before, during and after the Holocaust, during her presentation of family photos and historical records about the concentration camps. She also gifted Pilton College a signed copy of Wendy Holden's book "Born Survivors", which tells her story and those of two other 'miracle babies' born in the camps.
RE teacher Kalena Tucker, who worked with Eva and Oli's family to organise the visit, said, "It was wonderful to give our students the privilege of meeting Eva and hearing first-hand about the reality of the Holocaust; she was a humble yet inspirational person, so I'm sure they will remember today for many years to come."
Here are what some of our students had to say: -
"I have never experienced something so heartbreaking yet inspiring." - Mia - 9 E HUD
"It opened my eyes to how heartbreaking the Holocaust was and having someone who had experienced it stand in front of me was really breathtaking." - Daisy - 9 E HUD
"It makes so much difference to learning when you hear about personal experience from someone so close to the Holocaust. Eva's mother was truly amazing; what she survived was just incredible." - Hannah - 9 D CUL
"Listening to Eva speak was both devastating and deeply moving, she talked about the hardships her mother had faced—being separated from loved ones, suffering from hunger, and living in fear. Despite everything, she found the strength to keep going, to give birth to her. It was heartbreaking to hear about the suffering they endured, and I couldn’t imagine going through something so horrible. At the same time, I felt deep respect for their strength and resilience. Their words left me with a strong sense of responsibility—to remember their story and to appreciate the freedom and safety we often take for granted." - Molly - 11 E SIM
