Jonathan Gardiner was born in England in 1953, to parents who had both taken part in World War II but had not witnessed the full horrors. He was educated at his local Grammar School in “middle England” and then went to College in London to train as a teacher. He taught in primary schools for nearly 40 years and ended his career as a well-known headteacher. He is married with two children. In the past 10 years Jonathan has become interested in Jewish Performers in Weimar Germany. He has helped to research the life of Willy Rosen, a famous Jewish composer and song lyricist, imprisoned at Westerbork.

One-way Ticket from Westerbork is a culmination of a life-time’s reading and interest in the Holocaust. A story that he felt needed to be told.