I survived the Holocaust as a child – but it left me scared of coming out as gay
London.I was born on 1 September 1936 in Paris – of Polish-Jewish parents. My brother Albert was born five years earlier in Warsaw.My parents sought to escape the dreadful conditions for Jews in Poland by moving to Paris.
Soon after my birth, my family and I moved into a first-floor flat in the 11th arrondissement.Life became increasingly threatened for Jews in Paris after the Nazi occupation on 14 June 1940.
I was not yet four years old. As a baby, the warmth of my family life insulated me from the menacing atmosphere.Nonetheless, I recall queuing with Albert for the yellow stars inscribed in capital letters ‘JUIF’ – the French word for Jew – that we were forced to wear on our clothing.
The fact that this has stuck in my mind indicates that I must have been somehow aware that this requirement meant trouble for us.One of the few memories I have of my father is him jumping me up and down on the bed – I still hold on to that to this day.On 20 August 1941, he was taken away by the Nazis.
