Finally Geraldine reflects on her parents’ lives and her own. She considers whether the world has learnt from the lessons of the Holocaust. INT: It’s a hard thing to know your mother suffered. GS: Very hard, but as children, we knew we weren’t allowed to leave anything on our plates; no food was to be … Read more
Geraldine talks about life in Glasgow; growing up as a child of two survivors and about her mother’s role as a minister’s wife. GS: And in the autumn of 1951, my mum and my grandma came to Glasgow and they were married in London and their life began. INT: And your father was a minister … Read more
Geraldine explains why her mother and grandmother went to Sweden after the war. She describes their life there. She then explains the unusual way her mother met the young man, who became her husband. INT: And then your mother, you told us this before, ended up in Sweden, with her mother? GS: She did, she … Read more
Geraldine talks about the increasing difficulties facing her mother and her grandmother as the war progressed. She describes their time in Theresienstadt and then in Auschwitz where her mother’s skills saved her life, when she was forced to draw for the notorious Dr Mengele. INT: That’s interesting. And life obviously changed very significantly for your … Read more
INT: Today is 25th of November 2015, and I’m here to speak with Geraldine Shenkin, who is going to tell me a little about her mother, Mrs Marianne Grant. Geraldine describes her mother’s background in Czechoslovakia by reading from Marianne Grant’s autobiography. She goes on to talk about her mother’s great love for drawing and … Read more