Hastings theatre hosts Holocaust Memorial Day service

The story of a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor will be told during a commemoration service at a Hastings theatre on Saturday.

The event at White Rock Theatre comes after Emmie Tasker and her son David discovered no-one had been lined up to host this year's service in Hastings.

Ms Tasker said while the memories upset her, people "can't be in the dark about what happened."

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place internationally on 27 January.

Ms Tasker was born in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, in 1933.

After the country was invaded by Germany in 1940, she and her three brothers were sent into hiding.

One of her most prominent memories of the period was when a bounty hunter - someone who was paid to capture Jews in return for payment during Nazi occupation - turned up where she was hiding.

Luckily they did not find Ms Tasker.

She also remembered being hungry and regular bombing.

When World War II ended, Ms Tasker was reunited with her family, but initially did not recognise her mother, who had lost her parents, sisters and her sisters' families.

She said: "I can't remember sitting down to my mum and saying: 'How do you feel?' And that's why I have to tell my kids how I feel."

In 1954, at the age of 21, Ms Tasker emigrated to Israel, where she met her husband, who was from Liverpool.

The pair returned to England, where they had two sons.

Her son, David Tasker, 62, described his mother and her immediate family's survival as "a miracle".

He was inspired to tell the story to bigger audiences after coming across a local newspaper story about last year's Holocaust memorial in Hastings.

When he rang Hastings Borough Council to ask about this year's event, Mr Tasker said he was told there was no one to host the event.

Mr Tasker told the council: "Well, I think I better do it."

He said such events were important to "teach children why it happened".

Ms Tasker - now a grandmother of five - will also attend Saturday's event, alongside pupils from The Hastings Academy and Hastings and Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart.

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