My family values: Helen Lederer, actor
My father, Peter, was lucky; he was sent as a refugee to England from Prague in 1937 aged 15, and his parents, who were both Jewish, escaped with his sister in 1939. The family settled in a flat in Hampstead, where they socialised with other Czechs, some of whom had not been so fortunate. They operated an open-door policy and looked out for each other. That sense of social responsibility has been ingrained in me.
My parents travelled a lot as my father was a civil engineer. They were living in Baghdad just after my sister, Janet, was born in 1952, but by the time I arrived, in 1954, he was working on the Usk dam, so I was born in Wales. We promptly moved to south-east London, and I've never left there.
We were probably quite cosmopolitan for the area at the time with our Czech food and my father's love of classical music. He liked to tell jokes very badly, and sing loudly. I had the feeling our home was always a bit different to those of my school friends.
Everyone called my grandparents Big Baba and Little Baba - but boyfriends used to find that embarrassing, so they would call my grandmother LB. She was a very warm, very physical woman. She taught us to take care of ourselves and be polite. She taught me to always arrive with a gift and to write thank you letters - I still do that.
My mother was quiet and reserved; my father was gregarious and outgoing. After university, she was forced to give up work at the Board of Trade on marrying (as women often were in the 50s), but she later did voluntary work. There was an expectation from her that my sister and I would "contribute to society", even though we were girls.
My mother was very tidy - I definitely rebelled against that. I think I am a more creative parent. I was never worried if my daughter, Hannah, now 18, splashed paint on the table. And I wasn't as strict. In fact, Hannah and I made it up as we went along.
I can't listen to Dvorak. Its melancholic moments reminds me of my father, who was prone to dark moods. I suffer from them too at times but, like my mother, can buck myself up.
It's difficult to talk about the Holocaust. I'm aware that it's my parents' history, not mine. They never talked about it. Two years ago, I went to Prague for the first time. At Theresienstadt (concentration camp), I saw a list of Lederers on the wall of remembrance. Were they my lost relatives? I'll never know.
Growing up among emigres who started again in a new country has shaped me. They valued life. My parents told me: nothing bad lasts for ever. Something good is always around the corner. In the meantime, you just have to survive.
Helen Lederer is appearing in Cinderella at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, Kent, from 5 December to 19 January; churchilltheatre.co.uk