Last Thursday we were immensely privileged to welcome Mr Rudi Oppenheimer to Badminton. An audience of Year 9 and 10 students, together with a large number of Year 11, Sixth Form and staff, sat spell-bound as they listened to Mr Oppenheimer’s hugely powerful, deeply moving and at times humorous testimony of the early years of his life.
Born to non-practicing Jewish parents in Berlin in 1931, Mr Oppenheimer’s family escaped the escalating persecution experienced in Nazi Germany for a new life in Holland via a short stay in Great Britain. The few months spent staying in London with his uncle would have enormous consequences, for it was there that his little sister Eve was born in 1936. Her British passport would not ultimately be enough to save the lives of either her parents or grandparents in the Holocaust to come, but it would play a part in helping her and her big brothers Rudi and Paul to survive the war after they were arrested in Holland and sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, via Westerbork transit camp in the north-eastern Netherlands.
Mr Oppenheimer was a compelling narrator who spoke openly about his memories in a direct, engaging manner. He did not try to embellish or pass judgement on what his family had experienced. This matter-of-fact approach made the extraordinary things we were hearing about all the more powerful. The audience also had the opportunity to ask questions at the end, and the thoughtful, sensitive inquiries by the girls spoke volumes for their maturity and engagement with the difficult and emotional subject matter. In their subsequent reflection sessions the Year 9 groups had clearly been deeply affected by the experience, but importantly many of the lessons they had learned were positive ones of hope, resilience and triumph over adversity.
We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Rudi Oppenheimer for making the journey to come and share his words of wisdom and inspiringly positive outlook on life. It was a day that those who were lucky enough to be a part of will never forget
