Holocaust education: Anne Frank’s stepsister visits the Hall School with son of man who liberated Belsen

The son of a man who helped liberate Nazi concentration camp Belsen and Anne Frank’s step-sister recently visited the Hall School in Belsize Park.

Leonard Berney in his Hall School uniform. Picture: John Wood - Credit: Archant

John Wood, whose father Leonard Berney attended the Hall in the early 20th century, and Eva Schloss MBE, who knew Anne Frank as a child and whose mother married Anne’s father after the war, went to the school to show year 8 pupils a poignant documentary called No Asylum aas part of the school’s Holocaust education programme.

John’s father was one of the first soldiers to enter Belsen.

John told this newspaper: “It was an amazing event, the teachers were so inviting and it was so imporant.

“Everyone was enthused with questions.”

History teacher Oggy Soskic said “It was a real honour to host Eva at The Hall.

“Not only did she give us a detailed recollection of the events in her life, but she also reminded us of our responsibilities as global citizens, highlighting, in particular, the nature of the refugee crises we face today.”