IN A POIGNANT and symbolic gesture, the Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Cardiff Cllr Helen Lloyd Jones has awarded a Personal Peace Award to Eva Clarke, a Holocaust survivor whose birth coincided with the final days of World War II.

This special recognition, granted on the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, underscores the remarkable journey of Eva Clarke, who was born in Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria, on April 29, 1945, just days before the war ended on May 8, 1945.

Eva Clarke’s survival was nothing short of miraculous. The camp’s gas chambers were blown up on April 28, 1945, and the Americans liberated Mauthausen just days after Eva’s birth. Tragically, most of her family had been murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, including three of her grandparents, her father, uncles, aunts, and her 7-year-old cousin, Peter. Eva and her mother were the only survivors of their family.

Throughout her life, Eva has worked tirelessly with the Holocaust Educational Trust to raise awareness of the horrors of the Holocaust and to condemn genocides wherever they occur. She participated in this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day event in Cardiff and her dedication to sharing her family’s experiences has been invaluable to ensure that the atrocities of the past are never forgotten and that future generations learn the importance of tolerance, understanding, and human rights.

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Helen Lloyd Jones, expressed profound admiration for Eva’s courage and resilience, saying: “Eva Clarke’s story is a powerful reminder of the enduring strength of the human spirit. We are honoured to recognise her contributions to our community and beyond. Her willingness to share the heart-breaking experiences her family endured, ensures that the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten and that future generations understand the importance of remembering the past to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

“Eva’s life journey, from the harrowing days of her birth to her contributions to peace, serves as an inspiration to all. The Peace Award bestowed upon her is a symbol of Cardiff’s deepest respect and gratitude for her tireless efforts in promoting peace and understanding.”

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, Eva’s father, Bernd Nathan, left Hamburg and moved to Prague. There, he eventually met Eva’s mother, Anka Kauderová. The couple married on May 15, 1940. In December 1941, they were sent to Terezín (Theresienstadt), where they remained for three years. They were young, strong, and able to work.

During their time in Terezín, Anka became pregnant with a son, Dan. When the Nazis discovered this, Eva’s parents were forced to sign a document stating that when the baby was born, it would have to be handed over to the Gestapo. Tragically, Dan died of pneumonia at two months of age. His death inadvertently saved Eva’s life – had Anka arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau with a baby, she would have been sent immediately to the gas chambers. However, because she arrived without a baby and was not visibly pregnant with Eva, she survived.

Anka was in Auschwitz-Birkenau from October 1-10, 1944. She had volunteered to follow her husband, who had been sent there. Tragically, she never saw him again, and he never knew she was pregnant. After the war, she discovered that he had been shot on January 18, 1945, less than a week before the Red Army liberated the camp.

As Anka’s pregnancy was not visible and she was deemed fit for work, she was sent out of Auschwitz to work in an armaments factory in Freiberg, near Dresden. She remained there for the next six months – by now getting weaker while at the same time, becoming more visibly pregnant. By the spring of 1945, the Germans were retreating and evacuating concentration and slave labour camps. Eva’s mother and her fellow prisoners were forced onto a train: not cattle trucks this time but coal trucks – open to the skies and, obviously, filthy. They weren’t given any food and scarcely any water during what became a three-week nightmare journey around the Czech countryside. The Nazis didn’t know what to do with their ‘dying cargo’.

The train eventually arrived at Mauthausen concentration camp. Anka had such a shock when she saw the name of this notorious camp that her labour began and Eva was born on a cart, in the open, without any assistance, medical or otherwise. By this stage, Anka weighed about five stone (35 kg) – she had the appearance of a scarcely living pregnant skeleton. Eva weighed about 3 lbs (1.5 kg). If the camp’s gas chambers hadn’t been blown up on April 28, 1945, and the Americans hadn’t liberated Mauthausen just days after Eva’s birth, neither mother nor child would have survived.

In 1948, Eva and her mother returned to Prague, where Anka married Eva’s stepfather in February 1948. In the same year, they emigrated to the UK and settled in Cardiff. Eva later met her husband, a Law Student from Abergavenny who went on to be a Professor of Law in Cambridge. She moved to Cambridge to be with him.

The Pembrokeshire Herald’s Coverage of VE Day C80 commemorations are kindly sponsored by PMR