Anne Frank exhibition visits HMP Winchester

Puzzled, Anon, HM Prison Manchester, Commended Award for Drawing. Image, Courtesy of the Koestler Trust

Our first ever visit to Winchester prison, was a remarkable success. The event centred on the Anne Frank exhibition, with a great deal of prisoners volunteering to act as our guides/peer educators during the 2 weeks. We finally settled on a group of 13 who presented exhibition to both prisoners and staff with much intelligence and enthusiasm.

Over 300 attended the exhibition sessions, and there was a great many people who attended the talk from Eva Schloss (Holocaust survivor and posthumous step-sister of Anne Frank) our guest speaker on the final day. Eva presented signed copies of her autobiography ‘Eva’s Story’ to all guides and also to the principle organisers of the event S.O. Nigel Hosking and Governor Bob Rowlands. Officer Hosking also relayed a special personal message to Eva at end of the event, which was especially poignant as Nigel is a decorated ex- special forces officer, and who wanted to express his gratitude to Eva for talking about her experiences in Auschwitz - Birkenau  concentration camp, and her life afterwards. Read a review of the Prison Project in the Hampshire Gazette. 

Originally scheduled to be our guest speaker at HMP Winchester was Mrs Eva Clarke. Her mother Anka Bergman was very ill at that time, and sadly passed away on the 17th July whilst we were doing the event in Winchester. We would like to express our sincere condolences to Eva and to her family for their sad loss. Read Anka Bergman's remarkable story here.