WW2 veteran's plea ahead of VE Day after seeing concentration camp horror firsthand
As a young British Jewish soldier Mervyn Kersh was 'on a mission' when he joined up in World War II but nothing could prepare him for the horrors he saw and wants the world to remember
Heroic veteran Mervyn Kersh fears his 'memories are fading' as the 80th anniversary of VE Day approaches and he is urging the British public to remember those who died in World War II.
'It is important to remember, to make sure we don't forget, if we don't remember they will do the same again,' the veteran warns But the 100 year old told The Mirror t here are some things he will never forget, such as meeting the survivors at Belsen concentration camp in Germany after it was liberated. Nothing could prepare Mervyn for the unbearable horrors he saw as a young British Jewish soldier in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
He went to Belsen first for a week, talking to the people who were able to walk and come out of camp. He was not allowed in because of Typhoid. 'They were all in their striped uniform, they were all very emaciated, their arms just bones,' he described. "A lot of the inmates released were very ill, most of them couldn't move. You couldn't tell their age because of their looks. In two weeks, many thousands died after the liberation. '
The camp was liberated on April 15, 1945, where 60,000 starving people were found after 100,000 had died there. A week later, desperate former Belsen captives who were able flooded Hanover railway station, desperately seeking news on loved ones.
'Those who could, walked to Hanover station, it was the railway hub of Germany and they were hoping to meet someone who knew something about their own families. They didn't talk about what happened to them, they only spoke about the future. I'd ask 'what was it like' and they'd say; 'No! Tomorrow.' Mervyn recalls.
'A lot of them had been marched to Bergen-Belsen from other camps and anyone who'd dropped out was shot. So they just had to carry on. So they were used to walking. They were all in their striped uniforms. They were made to see it as a uniform of shame. When I saw them their despair had turned to hope. The war had ended, they knew it.'
Mervyn was desperate to help the survivors so used his chocolate rations. 'The British Army issued us with a bar of chocolate and 50 cigarettes a week,' he said, explaining how he swapped his cigarettes for more chocolate because he didn't smoke. When I took them out of my pockets and showed them, their faces lit up as I gave it to them. Their faces lit up so much I thought 'I must get more'.
'So every day I went round the camp, round the barracks, collecting to take them more. I had about 30 or 40 with me when I went afterwards. They came up and took the chocolate, saying 'thank you', and they went off. Their faces lit up. They hadn't seen chocolate for years. And if they're like me, they love chocolate.," he said, as he points to chocolate on display around his kitchen.
As he sits stroking one of his two beloved cats, at his lovely home in north London, Mervyn said: 'Years later I was told chocolate is the worst thing you can give to someone who is starving, it could kill them. I wondered what happened to them and I still do.'
Soon after these horrifying scenes, Mervyn was on a train heading away from the misery. The train was 'sealed' because of the ongoing threat in Germany. The Germans had armed youngsters and told them to shoot at any allied soldiers they saw after they were overrun, so the trains were boarded up. The lights were dimmed for the same reason.'
As a result Mervyn explained: 'I had nothing to do so I just slept. I slept for 36 hours to get to Bruges. ' When he emerged from the gloomy train, Mervyn could hear music and saw people dancing in the streets. He was told: 'The war's over. Germany's surrendered'.
'I'd slept through the whole of VE Day,' he said. 'I must have been the last in Europe to hear the war was over. I was a bit disappointed not to be present when it did actually end. ' But Mervyn immediately joined in the giant party: 'I danced around even though I can't dance. So I joined them for about an hour or so, and then I think I carried on to get a boat back to the UK.'
Once back in the UK he headed straight home to Brixton Hill, South London and knocked on his mum's door. He recalled: 'I'd been in Egypt for six months and of course it was very hot and I was stripped to the waist most of the time and I also lost a lot of weight. I was seven stone when I came home. So I knocked on her door unexpectedly, my mother thought I was coming the next day. She came to the door and said, 'Can I help you?' As if I was a stranger. I said 'It's Mervyn'. I'm your son.' I was surprised she didn't recognize me.' Other relatives were at his family home still celebrating the end of the war, so once again Mervyn joined the party.
For decades now Mervyn has devoted his life to sharing his memories of World War II. Some of them refuse to fade for the D-Day veteran, such as meeting fellow Jews who had lived in terror in Nazi occupied France.
There was a Jewish service and those in hiding appeared clearly 'emotional'. Meryvn explained: ' One of them had been in an attic, the other one said he'd been in a wardrobe. He didn't come out of a wardrobe in four years".
Then he said he vividly recalls when he crossed into Germany turning from 'liberators' to "conquerors" with the British troops . 'I saw the German officers were very very scruffy and dirty, half dressed. A lot of them didn't have their hats on with jackets open, very slovenly at that stage I suppose they were trying to hide. I took pride in telling them I was Jewish. 'Ich Bin Jude' and watched their faces. They were amazed. There were thousands of them going back behind the lines. I don't think they'd ever met a Jew, just knew what they'd been told."
He points out: 'This is why it's important to find out for yourself. To ask questions and not believe everything you're told."
Mervyn, who was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the French, said because he was Jewish he joined the army on a 'crusade' and that continues as he devotes his time to sharing his story around the world. 'There used to be millions of British troops left but now they think there's 200. I intend to be the last man standing.'
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