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Survivor renews link with West Ham United at Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony

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The link between Holocaust survivor Harry Spiro and West Ham United was furthered when he took part in a ceremony at the London Stadium marking Holocaust Memorial Day before the club's Premier League game against Manchester City.

Mr Spiro - who was accompanied by granddaughter Genna Green - stood alongside Hammers' great Sir Trevor Brooking. After coming to England in 1945 as one of "The Boys", Mr Spiro forged a successful career as a tailor and made the suits worn by the West Ham team which won the 1980 FA Cup, Sir Trevor scoring the only goal in the final victory over Arsenal.

Born in Poland, Mr Spiro, 87, worked in a glass factory in the ghetto. He escaped the Treblinka gas chambers because, against his will, his mother pushed him out of the house, telling him: “Let one of us survive!”

"I am often asked about my experience and what I now feel about Germany," he says. "I always tell people that hatred doesn't achieve anything. My survival shows that Hitler didn't win."

West Ham United joint-chairman David Gold also participated in the HMD ceremony.

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