Holocaust Memorial Day: Survivor Renee Bornstein tells of terror she endured as a child


For most of her life a Jewish grandmother who lives in Manchester never spoke of the terror she endured as a child.

Renee Bornstein was just 10 years old when she fled with just her siblings 300 miles across Nazi-occupied France. But they were caught by the gestapo at the Swiss border and she owes her life to the resistance movement.

Renee Bornstein (middle) and her siblings

Renee says she owes her life to resistance fighter Marianne Cohn, who was killed in 1944. She saved 200 children.

Marianne Cohn

86-year-old Renee kept the ordeal to herself, rarely discussing it even with her late husband Ernst who was held in concentration camps and lost most of his family. 

Ernst Bornstein, Renee's late husband

In our latest From The North podcast, Elaine Willcox is joined by Dr Rachel Century, Head of Research at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Noemie Lopian, the daughter of Dr Ernst Israel Bornstein and Renee Bornstein, to discuss why it is so important we continue to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

From The North is also available to stream on the following podcast platforms: