HMP Onley

Hastings’ Finest, Anon, HM Prison Cookham Wood, Under 18s Special Award for Oil or Acrylic
Image Courtesy of the Koestler Trust

This was the first time that we had visited HMP Onley and we were very pleased with the reaction that we received there.

This was an action packed week! We set up the exhibition on the Sunday and worked through the Bank holiday Monday to ensure the maximum impact of the event.

A well organised event, and again, an extremely enthusiastic  group of prisoners presenting the exhibition to peers and to staff.

The week culminated in a talk from Dr Eva Schloss, about her own personal experiences during the rise of the Nazis in Germany and the Holocaust. Miraculously, Eva and her mother Fritzi survived the extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau – sadly losing her father and brother and many other members of her family. Her mother married Otto Frank many years later, thus making Eva the posthumous step-sister of Anne Frank. As you can imagine there were many interesting questions from the audience. There was also a great surprise for Eva, as her birthday was going to be 2 days later the prisoners presented her with a framed portrait of the prison’s emblem transforming into a bird in flight.  Eva was very touched by this gift from the men.

We are very grateful to our prisoner guides for doing such a great job.

Very special thanks go to Mo Porter (Equalities) and Deputy Governor Craig Smith for organising this event. We would also like to thank  Governor’s  Sarah Coccia and Steve Ruddy for all their kind help and support.