Photo album from The Bradford Hostel, c. 1939 One of the hostel photo albums courtesy of Gail Simon • Hidden Treasures/Drew Forsyth This photo album was given to Holocaust Centre North by Gail Simon, the granddaughter of Herbert and Marie Eger, a couple who had run a house for young people escaping Germany and Austria. The Bradford Jewish Refugees Hostel as it was known, was founded by textiles manufacturer Oswald Stroud with donations from the local Jewish community. Herbert and Marie were themselves recent refugees from Berlin when they were employed. Around 25 boys were housed at the hostel and many of them stayed in touch with the couple long after leaving. Among the documents and memorabilia Gail gave to the Centre were 15 photo albums documenting the couple’s life in Germany before the war, their time at the hostel and beyond. It also includes letters from the boys where they talk about their daily routines and correspondence from them throughout their lives. Hari showing us one of the photo albums courtesy of Gail Simon • Hidden Treasures/Drew Forsyth The albums include photos of a lot of the boys in uniform. Once they were old enough, they joined up but were put on restricted duties due to their refugee status. They went into the Pioneer Corps, who were also known as ‘the diggers’ because that’s what they did – their service was spent digging trenches and other manual labour until they were “trusted” in normal platoons. After the war, some of the boys remained local to Bradford and the North of England while others moved to America or Israel. Holocaust Centre North (Huddersfield) Communal Records | Family History | HolocaustPartially online Holocaust Centre North is based at the University of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The Centre promotes Holocaust education through the lived experiences of Holocaust […] 7 Mar 2025 Collection Encounter: Holocaust Centre North “We started with friendship, people meeting for teas and coffees and then they wanted to start sharing their stories”