A man used to come to our offices to deliver stationery to a company upstairs. He would always stop for a chat and a bit of a flirt. One day he asked what we did, and I told him we were the Holocaust Educational Trust. Among other things, I said, we made sure that schools heard from Holocaust survivors. He stopped short.
“You know I am a survivor?” he said.
There was a pause. I got up from my desk and we talked. There was some bafflement and amazement, and as we say, the rest is history.
Zigi became the man we relied upon. He travelled up and down the country, sharing his testimony. It was impossible to remember a time when he wasn’t in our lives. I remember telling Ben Helfgott, a Holocaust survivor and dear friend, that Zigi was speaking, and he was so delighted.
Karen Pollock and Zigi Shipper (HET)
He was so full of life. I remember how hard I found it the first time I sat and listened to him share his testimony. I cried at the back of the room. It was somehow even more painful to listen to the most gregarious and life-affirming person I knew share such a story of horror and loss.
Zigi Shipper, 1930-2023 (Photo courtesy of Holocaust Educational Trust)
Zigi was 10 years old when the Nazis occupied Poland. As a child he was told his mother had died; in fact, she and his father had divorced. Soon after occupation, his father left for Russia, so he lived with his grandparents. After the Nazis invaded, they were forced out of their home and into the Lodz ghetto. When the ghetto was liquidated, Zigi was put on a train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. From there he was sent to Stutthof. Eventually, he was forced onto a death march, and liberated at Neustadt in May 1945. Neither of his grandparents survived.
Zigi Shipper pictured as a young man (Photo courtesy of Holocaust Educational Trust)
After liberation, Zigi received a letter. The writer said that she had found his name on a Red Cross list and thought he might be her son, although the date of birth was different. She asked him to look at his wrist and if there was a scar there, she was his mother. He did have a scar and in 1947 Zigi came to Britain to be reunited with the mother he thought had died when he was a child. He was also reunited with children he had known in the camps and he joined the Primrose Club, a group of child survivors who became known as “the Boys”. He used to say that when he walked into their first meeting, he felt like he had come home.
Zigi went on to meet his wife Jeanette. He was endlessly proud of their two daughters and large family.
King Charles (then Prince of Wales) with the family of Zigi Shipper and the artist Jenny Saville (right) at an exhibition of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust, which were commissioned by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales to pay tribute to Holocaust survivors, at The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace on January 24, 2022 in London. (Photo by Arthur Edwards - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Zigi loved being around people. He was a born public speaker. People were struck by his warmth and his humour. Everyone he met remembered him, whether the England Football squad ahead of the Euros in 2012; Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron; chief rabbis; school students and teachers, and even members of the Royal Family. Testament to this is that within hours of his passing, the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak was honouring Zigi in the House of Commons.
Whenever Zigi shared his testimony, he ended with a plea to his audience: please, do not hate. He was full of love and, despite everything, joy. He made me laugh, his charisma was unparalleled and he had more chutzpah than anyone I have ever met.
Zigi was brilliant. I adored him and I will miss him. Our hearts are broken but his spirit, his message and his legacy will live on.
Karen Pollock is Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust.
With the blessing of his family, The Holocaust Education Trust invites you to share your memories of the amazing Zigi Shipper BEM.
You can contribute at RememberingZigi@het.org.uk
