UNDER-14S RECEIVE EDUCATIONAL HOLOCAUST TALK

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Academy taking part in ‘Football Remembers the Holocaust’ programme

2024-01-26T10:00:00.000Z

UNDER-14S RECEIVE EDUCATIONAL HOLOCAUST TALK

Academy taking part in ‘Football Remembers the Holocaust’ programme

2024-01-26T10:00:00.000Z

Academy taking part in ‘Football Remembers the Holocaust’ programme

Ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) on Saturday 27th January, members of Burnley’s U14s squad received a special visit from survivor Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE.

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1929, Lady Milena left Prague at the age of nine with her younger sister Eva on the last train organised by Nicholas Winton.

The pair travelled to Holland before taking the ferry across to England, where they lived with the Ratcliffe family on Alexandra Street in Ashton-Under-Lyme.

A year later, their mother was able to escape via Norway and the family were reunited in England.

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On her visit to the Burnley Training Centre, Lady Milena showed spoke to the children about the history of her county before explaining how and why the Holocaust started.

She showed the group a variety of items she was able to retain from the time, too.

These included the label she was given to wear around her neck on the journey, an autograph book her grandfather gave her with a note in, and the permit required to stay in England.

Finally, to round off the afternoon, the players asked Lady Milena any fears she had when moving to England, how she found learning English and plenty more.

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The event is part of the Premier League’s Under-14 ‘Football Remembers the Holocaust’ programme in partnership with the Holocaust Educational Trust, which aims to educate Academy players about the horrors of the Holocaust and the lessons to be learned for today.

Towards the end of 2023 the U14s group had a virtual session with an educator from the trust, and they will wear HMD stickers before pausing for a moment’s silence before their match on the morning of 28th January.

Later this year, a selection of players will also embark on an educational visit to Auschwitz.

Speaking after the talk, Lady Milena said: “It’s been very exciting visiting Burnley today!

“It was interesting to see that the boys really were listening; I know that sounds strange but sometimes boys of their age can be sat with their eyes in the air.

“They really took the story in and the main message was to do something good when you see people in trouble.

“I’m going down to London to talk at a synagogue on Saturday. The Holocaust Educational Trust and I are trying to widen the knowledge of what happened as much as possible because it was almost ninety years ago and we’re now in the third generation since.

“It’s important for me, and for many Jewish people, that the younger people are aware.”