I Wasn’t Born Lucky
Alison Cooper tells the story of her mother Judis Singer, later known as Judith Waxman.
Judis was born in Vienna in February 1940.
Just eight days later she was placed in an orphanage, her family already torn apart by the growing persecution of Jews. In September 1942, when she was only two years old, she was deported by the Nazis to Theresienstadt concentration camp.
Theresienstadt was presented by the Nazis as a “model ghetto,” but behind the façade it was a place of overcrowding, disease, hunger, and death. As a toddler, Judis endured conditions no child should ever face. Against all odds, she survived until liberation.
On 14th August 1945, at just five years old, she was brought to the UK with a group of orphaned child survivors later known as the “Windermere Boys.” Having lost her parents and her early childhood, she began again in a new country. She was adopted by the Ingleby family in Manchester, who gave her the chance of safety, love, and belonging.
Judis survived the Holocaust as a very young child. Orphaned in infancy and taken to Theresienstadt concentration camp, she endured unimaginable suffering yet went on to build a new life in Manchester with hope and courage.
Her journey is one of profound loss, but also of survival, resilience, and humanity. By sharing her story, we honour her memory and the memory of the countless children who did not survive and ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust would never be forgotten.
This presentation is suitable for Y6 +