PrimaryCoHead

We are saddened to hear of the death of Holocaust survivor and one of the Windermere Boys, Harry (Chaim) Olmer, who has passed away at the age of 98. Born in 1927 in Poland, Harry and his family fled further east to his grandmother’s village of Miechów-Charsznica to escape antisemitic persecution. Conditions here weren’t much better, as Jews were subjected to brutal forced labour. In 1942, Harry, his brother, and his father, were deported to Płaszów labour camp. Throughout the rest of the war, Harry was sent to three more camps, before arriving at Theresienstadt, in Czechoslovakia, where he was liberated by the Red Army in 1945. Harry arrived in Britain after the war, where he along with 300 other children were sent to the Lake District to rehabilitate and adjust to life in England. They were known as the Windermere Boys. He later qualified as a dentist and practised in the profession for over fifty years. Harry was appointed an MBE in 2023 for his unwavering dedication to Holocaust education over the years. He would regularly visit educational institutions and different communities to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive. May his memory be a blessing.