Holocaust victims' descendant gets family photos after 80 years

Kitty Odell shows off the photos of her relatives that were discovered in an attic after 80 years

The descendant of a Jewish family who were murdered in the Holocaust has been given a box of photos of her relatives after 80 years.

Kitty Odell, from Bristol, said it was an emotional moment. "Everyone had tears in their eyes," she explained.

The box was hidden by sympathetic neighbours before her relatives were murdered by the Nazis in the then Czechoslovakia.

The discovery came when Ms Odell was contacted by a Czech genealogist.

Ms Odell's relatives lived in the town of Dvůr Králové nad Labem in the then Czechoslovakia and their neighbours, the Ledvinkas, had hidden the pictures for them.

Genealogist Eva Vetrovska had set the ball rolling on the discovery when she made enquiries about Ms Odell's family by putting an advert in a local newspaper.

That advert was seen by the grandson of the Ledvinkas, who still lives in their house, and wanted to reunite the pictures with the family.

"My relatives must have realised things were happening and people were beginning to be rounded up, so maybe the trusted the Ledvinkas with the box as they weren't a Jewish family," said Ms Odell.

Mr Ledvinka's grandparents kept the box of photos safe from the Nazis in their attic

She said Ms Vetrovska tracked down the family via her cousin Bobby Rennie.

The pair flew out later to meet Mr Ledvinka and were able to see the pictures for the first time.

"Suddenly this box brought my family to life," she said.

"Bobby started saying, 'This is my father, this is my brother', it was so moving."

There were also negatives among the box of photos

Ms Odell found new photos of her grandmother, aunt and mother in the box

Ms Odell said she initially thought the email from Ms Vetrovska to her cousin was a scam.

"We both said it had to be that, and I asked if they had enquired about our bank details," she said.

Five members of her family were killed in the Holocaust, and work is still ongoing to identify many of the people in the photos.