On Tuesday 20th March, Holocaust survivor, Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE visited Weaverham High School to talk to year 8 pupils about her experiences. Lady Grenfell-Baines talked to the pupils for an hour describing to them her experiences as a Jewish child growing up in Czechoslovakia shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Lady Milena was born in Czechoslovakia in 1929. Her father was recommended to leave Czechoslovakia the day before the Nazis invaded because he was both Jewish and a supporter of an anti-Nazi author. He was able to escape but left his wife and children behind. When she was nine years old, Lady Milena and her younger sister Eva were able to leave Prague on a special train, arranged by Nicholas Winton who saved 669 children in this way. Lady Milena and her sister were cared for by a local family in Ashton under Lyne until their mother was able to arrive one year later, having escaped via Norway. The family were thus all reunited.
Lady Milena told pupils about those early days in England including the generosity of the family who took her in. Their own daughter went to stay with relatives so that Lady Milena and her sister Eva could live together rather than being separated. She described her experiences at school both at a local school in Ashton under Lyne and then at a special boarding school for Czech children firstly in Whitchurch and then in Llandrindod Wells. Lady Milena brought along some of the items that she brought with her on that journey in 1938 from Prague via Holland which included a Czech translation of “The Wind in the Willows”. She also related meeting Nicholas Winton later in life as part of a TV programme organised by Esther Rantzan.
Lady Milena also told pupils of some of the stories of her friends who did not leave and remained in Czechoslovakia until the Nazis had invaded and occupied the country. She described their experiences in labour and concentration camps and how families were separated and never saw each other again. Finally, she shared some personal thoughts about her fears regarding the resurgence of antisemitism before answering questions from pupils.