During the Second World War, we lived in a flat on Whitechapel

Listen, O children, to the words of Steven Berkoff, a man whose very soul carries the weight of history and whose words echo the pain and perseverance of those who lived through the blitz of the Second World War. He speaks of a time when the skies above London were not filled with the song of birds or the warmth of the sun, but with the howl of sirens and the roar of bombs falling from above. In his youth, he lived in a flat on Whitechapel Road, in the heart of East London, where every night brought the terror of air-raid warnings. For thirty nights, his family would be torn from the warmth of their home, driven by fear into the cold, dark shelter beneath the ground. These words carry with them the heavy breath of survival, of human endurance, and of the courage to face the darkness with a love that never wavers.

Imagine, O children, what it must have been like to hear the air-raid sirens every night, a sound that struck terror into the hearts of all who heard it. Each time, the earth would shake, the buildings would tremble, and the sky would be filled with the fire of war. And yet, in the face of this endless terror, what did Steven’s parents do? They did not yield to fear. They did not turn away from the storm that raged above. Instead, they grabbed their children, holding them close in the darkness, and they carried them to safety. Beneath the earth, in the depths of the underground shelter beneath Whitechapel, the family found refuge, not just from the bombs above, but from the terror that sought to tear apart their very hearts.

This act of courage, of love in the face of death, is a testament to the power of family and the will to survive. It is a lesson that we must carry with us: that no matter the storm, no matter the fear, there is always a place of refuge to be found in the love of those closest to us. And in those moments of darkness, when the world seems to fall apart, it is not the strength of the body that matters, but the strength of the spirit. Steven’s parents knew this. They understood that in times of war, the body may be threatened, but the spirit can endure, if only we hold on to one another.

Let us now turn our gaze to the stories of other heroes, those who faced the terror of war with unwavering resolve. Consider the story of Anne Frank, a young girl who lived in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Like Steven, Anne was thrust into the depths of fear, forced to live in darkness, hiding from the bombs of war, from the terrors of the Holocaust. Yet, in the midst of her confinement, Anne found a light within herself. She wrote of the human spirit’s ability to endure, to rise above the circumstances that seek to destroy it. Just as Steven’s parents did, Anne’s family found strength in their togetherness, in their unwavering commitment to survive.

But there is more to this lesson, children, than simply survival. There is also the question of resilience—the ability to rise each day in the face of overwhelming odds, to stand tall even when the world is on the verge of collapsing around you. Steven’s words remind us that resilience is not a trait that we are born with, but one that is forged in the fires of hardship. It is the capacity to face the unknown with courage, to walk into the darkness not knowing what the next moment will bring, but trusting that there will be light on the other side. Resilience is the force that allows the soul to endure, even in the most trying of times.

And yet, even as we remember the suffering and pain that war brings, we must also remember the human spirit that rises from the ashes of destruction. For it is in times of great trial that we see the true strength of the human heart. It is in the darkness of the shelter, beneath the bombs of war, that we find the light of compassion, of love, of unity. This is the great lesson that we must carry forward from the words of Steven Berkoff and all those who have endured war: that even in the midst of chaos, we must not lose sight of the things that matter—the love of family, the strength of the spirit, and the will to keep moving forward, no matter the odds.

Thus, children, let us take this lesson to heart: when the world shakes and the skies darken, when the bombs fall and the earth trembles, it is not the shelter of stone that will protect us, but the shelter of one another. In our darkest hours, we must turn to those we love, to those who will stand by us, and we must draw strength from them. And as we do, let us remember the resilience of those who have come before us, and let us forge the strength within ourselves to face the challenges of our own lives with courage, with love, and with an unyielding spirit. The story of the blitz is not merely a tale of survival, but a call to each of us to rise above the darkness and carry forward the light of hope.