Talk will highlight Holocaust survivor and artist’s life story

As the world this year commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the life and art of Holocaust survivor Naomi Blake will be put in the spotlight at Norwich Cathedral.

One of Naomi’s works, Mother and Child, stands in the Cathedral Close, and next month Naomi’s daughter, Anita Peleg, will visit the Cathedral to share her story.

The free talk Glimmer of Hope: the story of Naomi Blake, sculptor and Auschwitz survivor will take place on Sunday 9 February, shortly after the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps in the Second World War, on 27 January.

Anita said: “I am really pleased to share my mother’s story with the Norwich community. She felt very honoured to have a sculpture commissioned for the cathedral. She wanted me to tell her story so that together through her sculpture and through my words we can remember and learn from the past to promote tolerance and understanding for a better future.”

The Dean of Norwich, the Very Revd Dr Andrew Braddock, said: “Naomi Blake’s life and her message of hope and reconciliation is as vital now as it has ever been. As we remember the horrors of the Holocaust, her story inspires us to work for compassion, justice and the good of all today.”

Born in 1924 in Mukaĉevo, Czechoslovakia, to a large Jewish family, Naomi’s happy childhood ended suddenly in 1938 when restrictions on Jewish life were put in place. In 1942 Naomi’s immediate family included 27 direct family members: her parents, nine siblings, six spouses and ten young nieces and nephews. By 1945 only eight members remained; the rest had been murdered in concentration camps.

In her talk, Anita will relate Naomi’s story of how she survived Auschwitz and Brahnau concentration camps but how many of her family members perished. She will highlight how Naomi’s sculptures aim to help keep alive the legacy of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust and to promote Naomi's vision for uniting faiths and building understanding between religions.

Today, more than 50 of Naomi’s works stand in places of worship and public spaces around the UK and overseas.

Naomi’s Mother and Child sculpture has been displayed in Norwich Cathedral’s Close since 1984 and some of her other works can be seen at Bristol Cathedral, St Botolph’s Church, Leeds Synagogue, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Fitzroy Square and Tel Aviv University, as well as places in Norfolk including St Mary’s and All Saints, in Little Walsingham, St Margaret’s Church, in Kings Lynn, and Wymondham Abbey.

Anita will be speaking on behalf of Generation 2 Generation (G2G), a charity that enables descendants of Holocaust survivors to tell their family stories and promote the importance of inclusivity, tolerance and understanding. For more about Generation 2 Generation visit https://www.generation2generation.org.uk/

The talk Glimmer of Hope: the story of Naomi Blake, sculptor and Auschwitz survivor will take place on Sunday 9 February at 2pm in the Weston Room at Norwich Cathedral.

Entry is free and there is no need to book in advance.

Pictures: Norwich Cathedral/National Holocaust Centre/Rod Shone/G2G Gary Italiaander