Eastbourne woman honoured with royal medal

Dorit Oliver-Wolff received her British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Mayor’s Parlour at Eastbourne Town Hall last month.

The ceremony was held in Eastbourne rather than Buckingham Palace due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The BEM is recognition from the Crown for meritorious civil or military service.

Ms Oliver-Wolff was a recipient of the award due to her services to Holocaust education and awareness. She has given talks to schools, community groups and businesses about her experiences.

Mayor Steve Wallis hosted the socially distanced event, abiding by the rule of six.

The award ceremony was carried out by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for East Sussex, Peter Field, and the citation was read by Deputy Lieutenant Violet Hancock.

Mrs Oliver-Wolff said, “I am still on cloud nine and buzzing to have received such an honour. I will wear this medal with great pride and wish to thank Steve Wallis for inviting me to his parlour for the award ceremony.”

Mrs Oliver-Wolff, who lives in Chiswick Place, has been speaking about her experiences for more than a decade.

In the last five years alone more than 8,000 adults and children have heard her testimony through the Holocaust Educational Trust’s outreach programme and she also speaks to government departments.

Born in Novi Sad, in the former Yugoslavia, Mrs Oliver-Woolf said she was unaware she was Jewish until she was five, when a woman spat at her in the street and called her a “stinking Jew”.

In 1941 she and her mother fled to Hungary. She hid in a cellar for nine months without lighting or heating. When the Soviet army liberated Hungary, she and her mother discovered her father and the rest of her family had been killed.

In the 50s and 60s, Mrs Oliver-Wolff was a premier pop-star and pin-up model in Germany. Living in the heart of Germany’s thriving post-war culture she sang Jazz, Blues and re-imagined folk hits in concerts, on albums, cabaret shows and the theatre, earning her legions of fans.