Holocaust survivor delivers talk to Academy youngsters

The visit comes in connection with the Premier League’s Equality Inspires Initiative educating academies in partnership with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Last week, Janine shared her story to City’s Under-14s, Under-18s and Under-23s squads along with members of Norwich’s Academy staff.

Outreach Programme Manager, Amy Gee, started off the talk before Janine took over and spoke about the treacherous conditions she was put through from a young age, having to cope with not seeing some of her friends and family, and hiding from the Nazis.

The players and staff were then given an opportunity to ask questions, with topics such as education, family and race among the questions Janine answered.

In 1956, Janine came to the UK where she met and married her husband. They had two sons and two grandsons. Today, Janine lives in London and regularly shares her story with schools.

When concluding, Janine said: “What I’m hoping is that you pass this story on, because if I and other people who survived didn’t pass it on then no one would know what happened.

“Stand up to persecution, we might look different – but we must not allow this to affect us as we all come from the same ancestry. For some it’s Adam and Eve, for others it’s that we’ve developed from animals, but what we must remember is that we are all the same, even if we look and think a bit different.”

A more detailed account of Janine’s story can be found online by clicking HERE.

The visit followed on from Norwich City’s Under-14s players marking Holocaust Memorial Day by commemorating their own tributes alongside other Academy teams in January.

At the tournament, before the Premier League's Under-14 matches, boys from the club Academies lit candles, held memorial cards of the victims of the Holocaust and observed a minute's silences ahead of kick-off.

In connection with the Premier League’s Equality Inspires Initiative, Norwich City have joined Manchester City and Middlesbrough in starting sessions for their Under-14s who have took part in specially created lessons learning about the history of the Holocaust as well as getting to meet survivors.  

The players have been tasked to create personal and reflective projects to share what they have learnt over the course of the educational programme.