MOURNERS bid ‘a last goodbye’ to the extraordinary writer and artist, Edith Birkin, a Holocaust survivor who spent the last 36 years of her life in Herefordshire.

Having endured the unimaginable horrors of the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, the 90-year-old succeeded in salvaging happiness with her late husband, Paul, and their three adopted children.

Despite the tears and heart-rending strains of the film theme to Schindler’s List played at Hereford Crematorium, Edith’s coffin was brightly adorned with sunflowers, and in accordance with her wishes, the national anthem of the Czech Republic was played.

Rabbi Anna said it was a privilege to lead the service, and drew attention to a selection of her paintings on display. Much of Edith’s creative work was shaped by her earlier experiences, and she came to terms with her demons through the mediums of writing and art.

A reading of her poem, ‘The Homecoming’, was a keen reminder of her early life.

After four years of “mad prison camps”, Edith found herself “Free, free, free” following the liberation of Belsen. She described being able to gather flowers for her loved ones on her way back home. But when she opened the door, there was no-one there.

Born in Prague, she was just 10 when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938, and the only relative to survive the war was her sister Ruth who had managed to flee before the borders were closed. Edith had been booked on the last of the Kinder Transport trains to leave, but it was cancelled.

After the war, she wrote her novel ‘Unshed Tears’, published in the 1990s, and her art has been exhibited all over the world. Certain works are held by the Imperial War Museum, the Ben Uri Gallery, the National Holocaust Centre and in Hereford.

Her book, The Last Goodbye contains images and poems inspired by her experiences in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland, as a prisoner at Auschwitz, in the Kristianstadt labour camp in Silesia and finally, Belsen. Her famous painting, The Last Goodbye is a haunting representation of her time at Auschwitz.

At her funeral, her son Nick thanked all those who supported her in Hereford during the latter part of her life. He explained how the family, living in London, discovered the county during holiday visits. Edith and her husband were friends of the artist John Cherrington, who moved to the county with his partner.

“We rented a cottage at Newton St Margarets and eventually bought a home there,” said Nick.

A child at heart, his mother “rescued dolls and Teddy bears from charity shops,”” he said, adding:. “She had a mercurial charm and called a spade a spade.”

He recalled her invitation to Buckingham Palace for Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Edith greeted a familiar figure who explained he was the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. “Are you sure?” she asked him, insisting: “You look like one of the Belsen liberators.”