War II In 1948, Hersh volunteered to fight in the Israeli Defence Forces "to contribute towards the war of independence". Personal life Hersh met his wife Jean at a dance in Leeds at the age of 32. They have three children and several grandchildren. He currently lives near Leeds, England. In 1995, as part of his first public discussion of his Holocaust experiences, Hersh published his book, A Detail of History. All the proceeds go to the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre, where he often gives presentations about his experience. Awards and honors Hersh was the subject of the award-winning documentary "Arek" (2005) produced by UNISON and directed by Tony Lloyd. In 2009, he was awarded an MBE for voluntary service to Holocaust education. In 2017 he was immortalised in a sculpture by Frances Segelman for the Leeds Makor Jewish Culture Office. In 2019 Arek was one of the subjects in the BBC drama "The Windermere Children" telling the story of the child survivors of the Nazi Holocaust that has devastated Europe's Jewish population on arrival to Calgarth Estate by Lake Windermere in 1945. See also Miklos Kanitz References Hersh, Arek (2001): A Detail of History. Quill Press. External links Imperial War Museum Interview Interview for BBC History KS3 / GCSE Living people People from Sieradz Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors 20th-century Polish Jews Members of the Order of the British Empire Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom 1928 births