My Voice: Harry Olmer: My revenge on Hitler is my family
Harry Olmer was born in 1927 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He and his five siblings had a happy childhood, staying with their grandmother Rochel Leah every summer in Charsznica, a rural area surrounded by woods.

When war broke out, the Germans took over Sosnowiec. In 1942, Harry was taken to a concentration camp in Plaszów, working 12-hour shifts at a railway embankment on a small cup of coffee and lump of bread.

Gruelling labour at Buchenwald and Schlieben left Harry dreadfully ill and liberation couldn’t come soon enough. In 1945, he came to England as one of the 'Windermere Boys’. Despite arriving in the UK with nothing, Harry built a successful life, studying dentistry at Glasgow University, marrying Margaret Lunzer, having four children and eight grandchildren and retiring as a dentist at 86.

Harry's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

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My Voice: Harry Olmer: My revenge on Hitler is my family
Harry Olmer was born in 1927 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He and his five siblings had a happy childhood, staying with their grandmother Rochel Leah every summer in Charsznica, a rural area surrounded by woods.

When war broke out, the Germans took over Sosnowiec. In 1942, Harry was taken to a concentration camp in Plaszów, working 12-hour shifts at a railway embankment on a small cup of coffee and lump of bread.

Gruelling labour at Buchenwald and Schlieben left Harry dreadfully ill and liberation couldn’t come soon enough. In 1945, he came to England as one of the 'Windermere Boys’. Despite arriving in the UK with nothing, Harry built a successful life, studying dentistry at Glasgow University, marrying Margaret Lunzer, having four children and eight grandchildren and retiring as a dentist at 86.

Harry's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.

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My Voice: Harry Olmer: My revenge on Hitler is my family

My Voice: Harry Olmer: My revenge on Hitler is my family

by The Fed
My Voice: Harry Olmer: My revenge on Hitler is my family

My Voice: Harry Olmer: My revenge on Hitler is my family

by The Fed

Paperback

$20.95 
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Overview

Harry Olmer was born in 1927 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He and his five siblings had a happy childhood, staying with their grandmother Rochel Leah every summer in Charsznica, a rural area surrounded by woods.

When war broke out, the Germans took over Sosnowiec. In 1942, Harry was taken to a concentration camp in Plaszów, working 12-hour shifts at a railway embankment on a small cup of coffee and lump of bread.

Gruelling labour at Buchenwald and Schlieben left Harry dreadfully ill and liberation couldn’t come soon enough. In 1945, he came to England as one of the 'Windermere Boys’. Despite arriving in the UK with nothing, Harry built a successful life, studying dentistry at Glasgow University, marrying Margaret Lunzer, having four children and eight grandchildren and retiring as a dentist at 86.

Harry's book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526192370
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Publication date: 05/27/2025
Series: My Voice: The Remarkable Life Stories of Holocaust Survivors
Pages: 170
Product dimensions: 5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

The Fed is Manchester's leading social care charity serving the Jewish community. In June of 2021, The Fed were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for the My Voice Project, the highest possible accolade for a voluntary sector group.

Table of Contents

1 My childhood in Poland
2 A lucky escape
3 Germans take over our town
4 Working for the Germans
5 Selections and random shootings
6 My father and brother escape Plaszów
7 Bribing the camp commander
8 Death came in yellow
9 White chocolate at Buchenwald
10 An explosion at Schlieben
11 Fighting for my life in Theresienstadt
12 Becoming human again in Windermere
13 Learning English and making friends
14 Discovering my new career
15 Studying dentistry and dissecting bodies
16 Reuniting with my brother and sister
17 The start of my working life
18 Meeting my wife Margaret
19 A dental officer in the British army
20 Building a practice and our family
21 Going back to my roots in Poland
22 The importance of Holocaust education
23 My brushes with royalty
24 Giving up work, eventually
25 My family and my legacy
Glossary
My Voice volunteers
About The Fed

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