Holocaust survivor given freedom of borough

A Holocaust survivor has been given the freedom of her borough in recognition of her work as a freedom fighter and campaigner for human rights.

Dorit Oliver-Wolff BEM, who lives in Eastbourne in East Sussex, was five years old when she was forced to hide in a cellar for nine months to evade the Nazis.

On Wednesday she was awarded the status of Freewoman of the Borough of Eastbourne.

She was nominated "in recognition and appreciation of her extraordinary life".

As well as her campaigning, she was recognised for her outstanding contribution to Eastbourne and its community, her dedication to Holocaust education and her passion to ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten.

Mrs Oliver-Wolff, 89, still visits schools around the country telling her story.

She previously told BBC South East she would continue to educate people as long as she had "a breath in her body".

Ms Oliver-Wolff was born in Novi Sad in Serbia - formerly Yugoslavia.

In 1941, she and her mother fled and travelled from place to place within Hungary, creating new identities before hiding in a cellar, from where her mother would sneak out at night to look for food in bombed-out shops.

She was caught twice, managing to escape both times. On one occasion, Ms Oliver-Wolff was turned in to the Nazis by the woman who looked after her while her mother was working.

She returned to Serbia in 1945 after the Soviet army liberated Hungary, where she discovered that her father and the rest of the family had been killed by the Nazis.

In 2019 she was given a British Empire Medal for services to Holocaust education and awareness.

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