The Last: Journey to the End of the Holocaust (Hurst, 2027)

Soon, the last person who lived through the Holocaust will die. In a series of intimate portraits, journalist Rosie Whitehouse gives us a final chance to hear survivors’ thoughts―not just their stories.

All part of a group known as ‘the Boys’ (though some were girls) or ‘the Windermere children’―who settled in the Lake District after World War Two―these survivors have shaped how Britain remembers the genocidal horrors of the past.

While some have testified publicly about their experiences, Whitehouse, who is also the Historical advisor of the ’45 Aid Society, offers unique access to their unscripted feelings and opinions, meeting survivors and their families in the comfort of their own homes.

They discuss the challenges of growing old with their trauma and the significance of the legacy they leave behind. Reflecting on how they moved forward and what held them back, they provide poignant insight into what it is like to be witness to and victim of one of history’s greatest crimes. Sometimes hopeful, sometimes bitter, they ask how―and whether―the memory of the Holocaust will survive them.

Amid growing antisemitism and creeping disinterest in the Holocaust, The Last is an urgent warning about the threats still facing Jewish communities―and the danger of history repeating itself.