Life Story for Helen Lewis

A woman who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp has died in Belfast.

Helen Lewis, who was 93, was born in Czechoslovakia and settled in Northern Ireland after World War II.

When Auschwitz was liberated Helen was seriously ill with typhoid. She was saved by the efforts of a Russian Major who issued a pass which enabled her to travel as far as Prague. 

In 1947 she moved to Northern Ireland and married an old friend, Harry Lewis, who had spotted her name on a Red Cross list of survivors and got in touch. 

Mrs. Lewis trained as a dancer and became involved in dance teaching and choreography establishing a long association with the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. 

In 1992 she published her autobiography, A Time To Speak, which recounted her experiences at the hands of the Nazis.

Helen Lewis, who had two children, became an MBE in 2001 for her services to contemporary dance.

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