""I'm here to tell you the story of two children. Both children were Jews, and one of them was me," says Holocaust survivor Hedi Argent. The 96-year-old is addressing Year 9 pupils from St Michael's Grammar School in Barnet, north London. "I was four years old when I first heard about antisemitism," she tells them. "It was explained to me that people didn't like Jews.""
"After the Anschluss in 1938, when Nazi Germany annexed Austria, Hedi says life became impossible for Jewish families. Her father lost his job as a lawyer overnight. His office was taken over and he was told to leave. Hedi herself was expelled from school. "The headmistress was standing outside the wrought-iron gates of the school," she says. "She shouted very loudly so everyone could hear, 'Go away, you're expelled. We don't want Jews in our school anymore'.""
Hedi Argent was born in Vienna in 1929 and was an only child closely attached to her cousin Bubi. From an early age she experienced antisemitism, being pushed to the back of her classroom, excluded from outings, denied roles, and verbally abused as a 'filthy Jew.' After the 1938 Anschluss her father lost his job as a lawyer, his office was taken and the family faced escalating persecution. Hedi was publicly expelled from school when the headmistress ordered her to leave. At a time when many Jewish families were deported to concentration camps, Hedi and her parents escaped Nazi Austria.
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