On 9 and 10 November 1938, synagogues were set on fire, Jewish businesses and homes were ransacked, and Jewish people were assaulted, murdered, and deported to concentration camps across Austria and throughout the National Socialist German Reich. The November pogroms marked a decisive shift in the Nazi regime’s systematic persecution of the Jewish population, which ultimately culminated in the Shoah and the murder of six million Jews.
To commemorate one of the darkest chapters in Austria’s history, we invite you to join us for the unique opportunity to witness Wendy Holden, author of the bestselling book Born Survivors, in conversation with 81-year-old Eva Clarke, one of the ‘miracle babies’ of the Holocaust.
Eva was born in April 1945 at the gates of Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria weighing just 3lbs. Her mother weighed 70lbs at full term. Wendy, a former Daily Telegraph war correspondent, will explain how she came across their story and that of two other young mothers who hid their pregnancies from the Nazis. The pair have spoken multiple times on radio and television, in schools and universities, cathedrals, synagogues, and Holocaust museums around the world, as well as to the House of Lords, the US Senate, ambassadors, government ministers, and European royalty. The story of the ‘miracle babies’, as told in Born Survivors, has recently been optioned for an eight-part, dramatised television series, and was featured on a 60 Minutes programme in the US, getting more than 15 million views.
Wendy will also talk about how she went on to chronicle other untold Holocaust stories including her 2025 bestseller, The Teacher of Auschwitz. Signed copies of Born Survivors, now published in 26 countries and translated into 16 languages, will be available to purchase.
Eva Clarke, who was married to an eminent Cambridge law professor, first began talking in schools about her and her mother’s experiences in 2000. She has been awarded an honorary doctorate for her work in Holocaust education and today is an active speaker who travels across the UK, often visiting schools with Wendy Holden. She first met the two other ‘miracle babies’ at a Mauthausen commemoration in 2010 when they discovered that they were born within a few weeks of each other. They are now lifelong ‘siblings of the heart.’ Eva lives in Cambridge and has two sons and four grandchildren.
Wendy Holden is a former journalist, professional public speaker, and the author of more than forty books, including her international bestseller Born Survivors. She has also had numerous works transferred to radio and television, and four of her books have been optioned for film. Her non-fiction titles have chiefly chronicled the lives of remarkable subjects, including Born Survivors, Behind Enemy Lines, Tomorrow to be Brave, One Hundred Miracles, and The Teacher of Auschwitz. Her latest title is Intimate Audrey, the first authorised biography of Audrey Hepburn, written with her son Sean. She lives in Suffolk with her husband and two dogs.
