About the Editor

Al Gibson with Eva Bloomberg in England in 2015.

Al Gibson has worked in mass media for some thirty years, in the UK, USA, Israel and South Africa. He has a Bachelor of Journalism degree and has served as a journalist, communications officer, copywriter and editor. He is also an internationally published author. Al ran a publishing company in South Africa for ten years and has lived in England since 2001, where he works for a global television network. He has interviewed many inspirational leaders during the course of his career and as a writer aims to capture real-life accounts of people who have overcome major obstacles in their lives.

Biographies Al has written include Life on the Line the extraordinary story of Des Sinclair and Mother of Malawi about Annie Chikhwaza. Al met Simon Bloomberg’s daughter Eva Spiers through a mutual friend, Pat Poole and was given a collection of 70-year-old diaries, reams of aging typed pages of an initial manuscript and a batch of faded handwritten letters. After a lengthy editing process, Life After Belsen is the result. For more information about Al visit his website.

 

“Simon Bloomberg’s two years at Belsen are well documented in his book Life After Belsen where he paints a vivid picture of what DP camp life was like, warts and all. He does not romanticise the people or detract from the harshness of the situation and is sometimes critical though in a forgiving way. In today’s politically-correct world this seems out of place, but Life After Belsen is often raw, yet life-giving. Perhaps because it includes funny stories about some of the shenanigans that went on, to which he turned a blind eye. Read Simon’s Book, and be inspired by the story of a Jewish boy growing up in the UK, fighting in World War I, overcoming anti-Semitism in the Colonial Office and then, in what seemed to be the fulfilment of his life calling, caring for his people in their hour of greatest need.” – Alistair Gibson.