If you get the chance, try and get to the University of Sussex next Wednesday afternoon.

There you’ll have the chance to hear the truly amazing story told by an amazing man – Holocaust survivor Manny Goldberg.

The university, as it does every year, is commemorating the Holocaust by hearing from those few survivors who are still able to tell their stories – stories that are vital in keeping us aware of the constant dangers of all forms of racism, and of antisemitism in particular.

Manny Goldberg was born to a Polish Jewish family who lived in Germany in 1930. As Hitler consolidated his grip on power, Manny’s parents grew increasingly aware of the dangers posed by the rise of the Nazis. They knew they had to escape. His father, after surviving some life-threatening incidents, was lucky enough to encounter a truly remarkable British ‘passport officer’ at the Embassy in Berlin. He was Frank Foley, who in fact was the head of MI6 in the German capital; and who, in the teeth of opposition from the British Government, secured visas for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Jews enabling them to escape to either the UK or, what was then, Palestine.

Manny, his young brother, and his mother were not so lucky. They were sent to the Jewish ghetto in Riga, capital of Latvia and were then shunted between ghettos, and concentration camps for the duration of the war.

Manny’s young brother was murdered by the Nazis but he and his mother survived through a combination of courage, good luck, and sheer determination.

Though only a boy of 13, Manny learnt how to repair the railway tracks that were being bombed almost nightly by the Allies who had worked out how vital they were to the Nazi’s war effort. His mother was also useful working both on the railway tracks and in the factories that employers were encouraged to build near the camps so as to take advantage of the Jewish slave labour that was available to them, free of charge.

Manny’s story is one of terrible hardships and brutality, and the occasional piece of luck. It is barely believable listening to him telling of the barbarity and cruelty that he and his camp mates endured. He tells his story in an almost matter-of-fact way, which is all the more powerful.

His liberation is a story in its own right.

In the final days of the war he and his mother were sent on one of the Nazis’ notorious death marches, intended to try and hide the truth about the atrocities that took place in the camps – marches which few of the starving camp inmates survived.

Many and his mother did and were among a group that were loaded onto barges and towed out to the Baltic Sea. They spent five days jammed together without food, water, or any sanitation.

Eventually they found themselves on a beach, they knew not where, with their Nazi guards nowhere to be seen. They started walking towards what they hoped was freedom but the guards re-appeared. Their hopes were dashed - but shortly after a column of tanks appeared, British tanks. The guards fled and Manny and his mother were finally liberated.

It’s an amazing story told by 92-year-old Manny with unbelievable calmness and courage. But my words cannot reflect the power of hearing the testimony first hand.

Some now question the point of remembering the Holocaust on a regular basis – after all it couldn’t happen now, could it?

Could it? One only has to look at the terrible genocide that President Putin is unleashing on the people of Ukraine to recognise that yes, it could happen today, it is happening today.

Racism and ethnic hatred never go away, they are always there - sometimes below the surface and sometimes, as we see in Ukraine and elsewhere, on the surface. It is only by constantly reminding ourselves as to where these hatreds can lead that we are best placed to avoid them.

But don’t take my word for it. Come and hear Manny’s.

The event at the University is free of charge and anyone can attend, but registration is essential. It starts at 2pm on Wednesday, February 1, and you can sign up here https://alumni.sussex.ac.uk/hmd-booking

l Ivor Gaber is professor of Political Journalism (Media and Film)School of Media, Arts and Humanities, University of Sussex