Hawkesbury High School Year 12 Modern History students recently had an experience “that will stay with them for a lifetime”.
During an excursion to the Sydney Jewish Museum as part of their HSC Modern History course they met holocaust survivor Jack Meister.
Mr Meister shared his story with the students from Hawkesbury and another school and then answered their questions.
After the formal meeting, the Hawkesbury students were lucky enough to meet Mr Meister again at one of the exhibitions within the museum and continued their chat.
Mr Meister was born in Kielce, Poland, in 1928, where he grew up with traditional Jewish values, until he was 11-years-old when the Nazis came.
In March 1941, Mr Meister and his family were sent to the Kielce ghetto, where he was forced into labour until August 1942, when the ghetto was liquidated.
Upon returning from his forced labour, he found his family was gone, and only recently discovered their potential fate.
Mr Meister was then transported to Radom labour camp, where he worked in a factory for a year, before being transported to Auschwitz.
He was tattooed with the number B488 on his forearm. At the end of 1944, Jack was sent on a death march to Buchenwald.
Read the article by Finn Coleman in Hawkesbury Gazette.