Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
MPR News Presents
MPR News Staff

On Holocaust Remembrance Day: BBC documentary 'The Children of Belsen'

Holocaust Museum
A flame burns at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

The 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen was April 15, 2020. A commemoration was planned in Germany, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, there was only an official “moment of silence.”

In April 1945, a 15-year-old Dutch-Jewish girl, Hetty Werkendam, was interviewed by the BBC in the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen shortly after its liberation by the British Army.

For this BBC World Service program, reporter Mike Lanchin travels to the site of Bergen-Belsen in Germany with the now 90-year-old Hetty — her married name is Verolme — and her daughter and grandson. It is probably the last time she will make the trip.

Listening back to the original 1945 recordings of her teenage self, Hetty vividly recalls the deprivations of the camp, and of seeing the dead bodies piling up outside the children's barracks. But she says, "The past doesn't help you. It has happened. And you must live on."

She also recalls the joy of liberation when she joined the other children singing for the British troops, special moments that were also recorded by the BBC.

"It is not a sad story I am telling you," Hetty said on her return visit to Belsen. "It is the story of experience, and plenty of hope and courage — because once you give up hope, that you wouldn't make it, you were dead within two days."

Her parting words in this documentary are "I'm sometimes surprised that young people don't know what the Holocaust is. And you have to explain it to them. And I do that. I go to many schools. But when I'm not there anymore, I hope that somebody will — like you — will remind the world that it did happen. It did happen."

Hetty Verolme is the author of two books, "Hetty: A True Story," and "The Children's House of Belsen." She grew up in Amsterdam and now lives in Australia.