A remarkable man who escaped Nazi-occupied Austria has been presented with a storybook documenting his life as part of a project to preserve the stories of Holocaust survivors.
Prestwich Jewish social-care charity The Fed has celebrated the completion of another "My Voice" book, entitled "Let no one be excluded: a life dedicated to human rights for all".
And the book was presented to Professor Peter Mittler CBE, who has, with the help of The Fed’s My Voice team, documented his life from escaping a Nazi-occupied Austria to studying at Cambridge University and later becoming a professor.
Louise Senderowich, a My Voice team member, presented the book to Prof Mittler during a private ceremony at the Belong Morris Feinmann home on April 24.
She said: “Peter is a remarkable man who has dedicated his whole life to championing human rights and fighting for inclusive education globally.
“He fled from Nazi-occupied Austria on the Kindertransport in 1939 when he was eight years old and is indebted to his sponsor family, the Jelleniks, who helped him forge a new life in England.”
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Fortunately, Peter was reunited with his parents and the family moved to Surrey initially, and eventually to Crosby in Liverpool where he attended the Merchant Taylors’ School.
Following his national service, he studied psychology at Cambridge University, later qualifying as a clinical psychologist.
He went on to become the director of the pioneering Hester Adrian Research Centre at the University of Manchester and then a professor of special needs education.
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He became dean of the faculty before his retirement, after which he became involved in international advocacy and advising UN organisations.
Juliette Pearce, who manages the My Voice project, said that she was delighted to realise that Peter had been one of her professors at the university where she studied in the 1980s.
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She said: “I had no idea back then that Prof Mittler was a survivor, and certainly never imagined that decades later I would be involved with him and other survivors, managing a team dedicated to sharing the life stories of these wonderful, extraordinarily resilient individuals for posterity.
“It is such an honour.”
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