HOLOCAUST survivor Josef Berger lit a candle of hope this week to mark 70 years since 300 orphaned children found refuge in the Lake District from the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp – a journey described as “hell to paradise”.

“I’m lucky to be here,” Josef, 81, told the Gazette before lighting the candle during a special public concert at Kendal Town Hall.

The flame was one of 70 to shine across the UK during commemorations for Holocaust Memorial Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

At the heart of a moving ceremony of prayer, poetry and quiet reflection in Kendal town centre on Monday were memories of the kindness shown by Lake District people to the 300 young survivors of Theresienstadt camp, who found refuge at the Calgarth Estate near Windermere in August 1945.

Josef Berger, 81, was left in the care of neighbours as a baby when his mother went on the run from the Nazis, never to be heard of again. Josef was eventually captured and “dragged” to Theresienstadt, near Prague, aged nine, in 1942. He spent two-and-a-half years there before he and 300 fellow orphans were liberated and brought to the Lake District to begin their recovery.

“Obviously after the camp days, the rest was heaven, really,” Josef told the Gazette, recalling his time at Calgarth.

“It’s the first place where I escaped the Holocaust. I remember the white tablecloths and the white beds; that’s one of my abiding memories. Everything was drab in the camps, everything was doom and gloom.”

The poignant events in Kendal were arranged by the Lake District Holocaust Project and South Lakeland District Council. Members of the public tied white ribbons of remembrance to an intricate pattern of string at the Birdcage, and Cllr Roger Bingham paid tribute to the “many local people” – his mother included – who helped “the Windermere boys”, as the 300 were affectionately known.

Meanwhile, Lakes School student Keelan Hardy, 17, read a poem called The Child Who Didn’t Know that he composed specially for the occasion.

The ceremony at the Birdcage was followed by a special public concert at Kendal Town Hall by international pianist Anthony Hewitt.

Rose Smith, of the Lake District Holocaust Project, described the events as “very moving” and said: “It’s been our privilege to get to know some of the children who came to the Lakes on August 14, 1945, who have been an inspiration to us.”

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron told the Gazette: “It’s a wonderful message of hope that the Windermere boys were received with open arms, affection, tolerance and kindness. We should be proud of our part in that as a community.”

To find out more about the Lake District Holocaust Project and its display at Windermere Library, visit www.ldhp.org.uk