Iby Knill - 'The Woman Without a
Number'
Headingley Library, Tuesday 13th
October
Partnership event as part of the
Headingley Festival of Ideas: Change
Sally Bavage writes:
 |
| Photo by Richard Wilcocks |
Iby, going on ninety-two and appearing a
generation younger in both spirit and energy, kept a full house in
Headingley library rapt with attention for well over an hour, reading
from her own work and answering a series of penetrating questions as
well as joining in the debate and commentary. Iby often talks to
school and college audiences who are studying the Holocaust, and
regularly skypes young people from Brazil to China. She also
addresses adult audiences of four hundred plus. Daunting at any age but she is
indefatigable in spreading her message of hope.
She addressed the Headingley Festival
of Ideas theme by outlining how changes during her life had altered
the directions she took. She first read to us from the introduction
to her memoir The Woman Without a Number (now in its eighth
printing by local publisher Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd, available
from Iby's website as as well as online and as an e-book), detailing
her escape from Czechoslovakia to Hungary as a teenager. Other
facets of her life include working for the Hungarian resistance and
making small acts of rebellion in surviving despite Dr Mengele in
Auschwitz and a slave prison camp where it was less 'Arbeit Macht
Frei' but more 'work or die'. The book lacks self-pity entirely and
does not dwell on the horrors she encountered; she does, however,
make Sebastian Faulks' heroine
Charlotte Gray look a bit of a
wimp.
She continued the
theme of Change with a snippet read from her new book, working title The Woman with Nine Lives and due out in January 2016. Adjusting
to her new country was not always easy, for although she spoke fluent
English she did not always understand the culture. She went on to
have two children, and many careers,but settled in Leeds decades ago.
She is a 'loiner' by choice.
Discussion and
commentary then focussed on how the writing of the memoir after sixty years of silence had come about, what differences it had made both to
her and her children and how we can all contribute in ways small and
large to change mass genocide and the movements of refugees from war
and oppression which are still going on.
Despite the topics
raised, Iby handled the discussion with delicacy, warmth and vigour.
Is there a just cause for war? What is the difference between sin
and evil? As she said, “Atrocity knows no nationality”. Iby's poem, which she read out as a conclusion, perhaps sums up her
philosophy that "under
the skin we are all the same - and each one of us can make a
difference"? You can read this, and many other details, on
Iby's own website at http://ibyknill.co.uk/index/
A final
illustration of her determination to broach a difficult subject
without a trace of self-pity: when I enquired about her use of a
stick to assist her painful hip, she calmly told me it was caused by
a blow from a rifle butt. With a smile, no drama. Chastening.
With grateful
thanks to the staff from Headingley library who supported
this event. Iby's book is available for loan from the library. A
donation has been made on her behalf to the Holocaust Survivors
Friendship Association.
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