List of [Jewish] Refugees in Sheffield, 1939 Sheffield City Archives: JCA/3/1/1, page 58 This plain sheet of paper may look everyday but it is actually from one of the most poignant items in the collections of Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library. The item is a file of papers, dating from 1939, all just like this one, that detail, in just a few lines, the immigrants who fled the Nazi invasion of Europe. It simply records their names, countries of origin, former and current jobs and where they are hoping to emigrate to eventually. It also shows the address they are staying at in Sheffield and the person who has taken them in, mostly people from the city’s Jewish community. The index was put together by David Brown and Ena Glass, possibly as part of their work for the Sheffield Jewish Aid Committee. Some of the entries have been annotated in pencil with changes to emigration status, marital status, and change of address. Sheffield City Archives: JCA/3/1/1, page 58 This entry is for Viktoria Ohrenstein, a single woman from Vienna who had been a lawyer and was now working as a companion and home help. She hoped to go to Australia but there is no record of whether she did or not. The entire index is available to browse online here Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library Local HistoryPartially online The Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library is a local authority archive open to the public that holds records and reports […] 19 Jul 2024 Collection Encounter: Jewish Life in Sheffield Collection Encounter: Records of Jewish Life in Sheffield, 1849-1976
Zum Chanukafest pamphlet, 1914 Zum Chanukafest pamphlet • Leo Baeck College Library The Leo Baeck Library Pamphlet Collection includes over 6,500 pamphlets published in the last 150 years showing the vibrancy of Jewish history and ideas. This pamphlet begins “For Chanukah 1914 – A greeting to the Jewish soldiers of the German Army from the Union of German Jews”. It includes psalms, poetry, plays, Torah and rabbinical encouragement to inspire the World War I soldiers receiving it with the deeds of the Maccabees. Zum Chanukafest pamphlet • Leo Baeck College Library It also features a remarkable “Dialogue Between the Chanukah Light and the Christmas Light” by Rabbi Dr Georg Wilde, Chaplain to the Supreme Command of the Fourth Army. Wilde would later be a refugee from Nazi Germany to England but his message of hope expressed through the lights of different traditions shining towards each other, so moving in the context of the Great War, still resonates over 100 years later. You can see the entire pamphlet online here: https://lbc.ac.uk/library-resources/collections/pamphlet-collection/ Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Leo Baeck College Library Communal Records | Cultural | Jewish Life | ReligionPartially online Leo Baeck College Library, part of Leo Baeck College, contains 60,000 volumes exploring Jewish civilisation. The great texts of Jewish tradition are supported […]
London Docks identity card London Docks Identity Card • Tower Hamlets This London Docks identity card from Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives is part of the personal collections that tell the stories of families in the area. This particular family archive belongs to the Rosenbergs of St George in the East of the district and was given to the organisation in 1988. Head of the family was Israel Rosenberg. Previously known as Israel Eickman/Eichman the collection includes this identity card which was issued under the Aliens Restriction (Consolidation) Order, 1916. These cards were issued to immigrants from the outbreak of World War 1. Israel would have had to report to the Metropolitan Police and the archive also includes his identity card that contains the stamps from the police. His occupation was listed as ‘Boot maker for Cohen and Company of Hanbury Street’ and there’s even his thumbprint. He is described as of Russian nationality and unable to write his name. Heritage Officer (Archives) Annette Mackin says, “We are still actively collecting, and this is the kind of material we really want to encourage people to donate to us. We really want to impress upon people that we really want everything about that family or that person, all the bits of ephemera, photos, and documentation to continue to build our collections. We are really keen to meet people and build connections to deposit with us and continue to capture the presence of the Jewish East End.” Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives Commercial | Communal Records | Local HistoryPartially online Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives is a local government archive in East London. It holds the records of a large […] 29 Jan 2024 Collection Encounter: Tower Hamlets Treasures Collection Encounter: Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives
Samuel Becher’s gravestone Samuel Becher's gravestone • The Living Stones This gravestone, recorded by The Living Stones, is in High Wycombe. It commemorates refugee and violinist Samuel Becher. It says he was born in Stryj, a small town in Poland in 1903 and that he died in 1965 but the next line hints at the fate of his neighbours: His heart was broken when his Dear ones died in the Holocaust In 1943. The fate of Stryj is well documented in “The Book of Stryj”, written by the surviving residents of the town in Israel in 1962. The book describes the events from July 1941 to August 1943, when the Stryj ghetto and labour camps were liquidated. Stryj was liberated by the Red Army on August 8th, 1944 and several Jews emerged from hiding but it is not know whether Samuel was among them. A Dr. N. Becher is listed as having died during the pogroms in Stryj and it’s possible he was a relative. The sculpture of the violin on the stone is beautifully made and it’s very unusual to find an ornament like this on a stone. There must have been a great deal of discussion between the stonemason and the burial board and the violin must have been very important to Samuel’s life. How and when Samuel left Stryj and his route to England, are unknown. His next record is when he gained British Naturalisation in May 1952 whilst living in High Wycombe. In the 1965 Probate Register, he is described as a Polish musician who lived at an address in Winton. The probate was granted to Alice Laura Giovanna Clinkard who is likely to be the ‘Alice’ mentioned on the stone. She paid for its styling and erection, so she was probably also the person who asked for the violin to be included. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain The Living Stones Communal Records | Jewish Life | Local HistoryOnly online The Living Stones is an online archival project documenting the Jewish heritage of Bournemouth and Poole through information found on gravestones in local […]
Students at the Leeds ORT School c.1940 Students in front of the ORT school in Leeds, England, c.1940. Archive: p00a034 • World ORT Archive ORT was established in Britain in 1921. One of the highlights of British ORT’s (now ORT UK’s) history was the Jubilee Fundraising Dinner at the Savoy Hotel in 1930. The Guest of Honour was Albert Einstein, and sharing the platform with him were George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, the Chief Rabbi, Dr Hertz, with Lord Rothschild presiding. Until the outbreak of the Second World War, British ORT was active both in fund raising and in various special projects such as assisting the Vilna Technicum, ORT’s flagship technical institute in Vilnius. In 1937 an ORT school was established in Berlin to provide a technical education for Jewish boys excluded from state schools by the Nazis. Because of the increasingly precarious position of Jews in Nazi Germany, ownership of the school buildings and equipment was registered under British ORT. With the war fast approaching, British ORT arranged to transfer the school to England. Over 100 students and several teachers arrived in England at the end of August 1939 and a new school was established in Leeds to carry on the work and training that had begun in Berlin. It continued to operate until 1942. This photograph shows some of the students in front of the school c.1940. Find out more about ORT’s history in England and throughout the world here: https://ortarchive.ort.org/browse-regions/western-europe/ort-in-britain Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain World ORT Archive Commercial | Cultural | Family History | Holocaust | Jewish Life | Local HistoryOnline The World ORT Archive (WOA) exists to preserve the historical record of World ORT’s activities and to place these activities into the context of contemporary Jewish History.
Oneg Shabbat Box This box, on loan to the Imperial War Museum‘s new Holocaust Galleries, once contained part of the Ringelblum Archive, a collection of documents from the World War II Warsaw Ghetto, collected and preserved by a group known by the codename Oyneg Shabbos (in Modern Israeli Hebrew, Oneg Shabbat; Hebrew: עונג שבת), led by Jewish historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum. The group, which included historians, writers, rabbis, and social workers, was dedicated to chronicling life in the Ghetto during the German occupation. They worked as a team, collecting documents and soliciting testimonies and reports from dozens of volunteers of all ages. The materials submitted included essays, diaries, drawings, wall posters, and other materials describing life in the Ghetto. The collecting work began in September 1939 and ended in January 1943. Read more about The Oneg Shabbat Archives with this digital exhibition from Yad Vashem. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Imperial War Museum Family History | Holocaust | ImmigrationPartially online The Imperial War Museum (IWM) is a national museum based in London, whose archival records cover Holocaust testimony, military history documentation and […] Eva Rott’s Slave Labour Ring Ring made by Eva Rott at the Heinkel aircraft factory • Imperial War Museum Sten Gun Menorah Hanukkah Menorah made by WW2 soldier • Imperial War Museum
Brondesbury Synagogue Brondesbury Synagogue JCR-UK have a great article, written by Rabbi Dr Bernard Susser in 1994, on the history of Brondesbury Synagogue in particular and the migration of Jews from London’s East End to other districts during the late 19th century in general. The original building, pictured above, was constructed in 1905 in a distinctive moorish style. Principle founders and benefactors included Solomon Barnett. A fire in 1965 caused serious damage. The synagogue closed in 1974, reopening as a mosque: the Imam Khloei Islamic Centre. Read the article here. Imam Khloei Islamic Centre today Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Jewish Communities and Records – United Kingdom (JCR-UK) Communal Records | Databases | Family History | Historical Documents | Jewish Life | Local History | ReligionOnly online Jewish Communities and Records – United Kingdom (JCR-UK) is an online project whose aim is to record details of all Jewish communities […]
Boris Bennett’s Camera This Kodak “Big Bertha” camera was used by the well-known East End wedding photographer Boris Bennett. Born in Poland in 1900, Boris came to Britain in 1922. Five years later, he opened a photographic studio in the East End of London, which was an instant success. In his stylish Art Deco studio, Boris made ordinary Jewish East Enders look like Hollywood film stars. He was able to photograph up to 30 bridal couples on a single Sunday, the traditional day for Jewish weddings. Couples would queue on the stairs of the studio waiting to have their pictures taken and crowds often gathered outside to witness the scenes. It was the ultimate compliment to have your photograph displayed in his studio window. Boris Bennett’s distinctive style used romantic flowing dresses, lavish bouquets and immaculate tailoring. Perfection and beauty was his purpose and he made all his brides glamorous. One commentator described him as the man who brought Hollywood to the East End, and today his work is much sought after by collectors. Boris was quoted as saying that sometimes when couples were queuing to be photographed he was tempted to rearrange them to create more perfect matches. From this he got the nickname ‘Boris itch to switch’. With his own bride Julia he had no such temptation. On the day she came to his studio for a passport photograph he was so enraptured that he proposed to her there and then and they married in 1929. As Boris achieved fame and fortune he used his position to help others, including assistance with the purchase a house in Finchley Road to provide shelter and support for young Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. Later he left photography to become a successful financier. Towards the end of his life he would look back on his days in the East End with much affection and say, “What a wonderful Jewish World it was!” Boris Bennett died at the age of 85 in 1985. You can see more of his work in this great book: Vintage Glamour in London’s East End, published by Hoxton Minipress. Read more here: https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/21/boris-bennett-photographer/ Text adapted from https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/50-objects/2009-18-1/ and https://www.jewisheastend.com/boris.html Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Jewish Museum London Cultural | Religion | SocialOnly online The Jewish Museum London is a public museum, with an archive collection of historic Jewish cultural, social and religious items. Archive Description […]
Yiddish Typewriter Yiddish Typewriter • Jewish Museum London This Yiddish typewriter, from the collection of the Jewish Museum London, belonged to the playwright Abish Meisels. Born in Galicia, Abish Meisels spent 12 years working in Vienna as a dramatist before emigrating to London in 1938. During World War II, Meisels was a central figure in the New Yiddish Theatre in Adler Street as a playwright and prompter. Yiddish theatre was brought to Britain by immigrants from Eastern Europe from the late 19th century. Plays were performed in Yiddish, the language spoken by Central and Eastern European Jews. They ranged from comedy to tragedy, drawing on Yiddish folk tales, adaptations of Shakespeare and stories of immigrant life. For hardworking immigrants, a night out at the theatre was a rare opportunity for entertainment and relaxation. Meier Tzelniker on stage in the New Yiddish Theatre Company’s performance of The Merchant of Venice. Abish Meisels can be seen in the prompt box. Yiddish theatre had a unique atmosphere with enthusiastic audiences who joined in and sang along. The early 20th century was the heyday of Yiddish theatre, with long queues for tickets and packed theatres. A number of theatres were set up in the East End of London, most notably the Grand Palais and the Pavilion theatre. As the number of Yiddish speakers declined, so did Yiddish theatre. In 1970 the last remaining theatre, the Grand Palais, finally closed its doors. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Jewish Museum London Cultural | Religion | SocialOnly online The Jewish Museum London is a public museum, with an archive collection of historic Jewish cultural, social and religious items. Archive Description […] It’s Hard To Be A Jew Grand Palais Theatre Poster • Jewish Museum London London Jewish Bakers Union banner London Jewish Bakers Union banner • The Jewish Museum, London
Elena Lederman’s Chocolates Celebrity chocolatier Elena Lederman with Elizabeth Taylor • AJR Refugee Voices This photo, from AJR Refugee Voices Testimony Archive, shows chocolatier Elena Lederman with actress Elizabeth Taylor, one of her celebrity clients. Elena says of this photo: “I gave her a box of chocolates at the studio and they all fell out.” Born in Milan to parents from Istanbul, Elena and her family moved to Belgium, where Elena worked as salesperson in Bon Marché. Elena married in 1940 and her son was born in 1942. They survived the war with the help of the Belgium underground, hiding in forests and woods near Brussels. She came to the UK in 1955 and opened a chocolate business, Elena Chocolates, one of the first people in the UK to import Belgium chocolates. These delicacies found favour with a wide variety of celebrity clients, including the Royal family. Here is an excerpt from Elena’s AJR Refugee Voices interview on how she came to start her business: “I always worked, because it was the only way to survive, which I did. I got quite a good background in that respect. I used to work in a shoe-shop, and I liked the idea to have shoes made to measure, so when I had the shop, the first time I made shoes made to measure, and I used to make shoes for the Palladium, boots, I got to do very, very well. In the shop where I find in Edgware. And after that my husband said, why don’t you do those very special chocolates from Belgium, why don’t you do that? Ah, I said, “No.” He said, “Come on, you’ll do it.” And I started. And for nearly twenty years, I introduced the Belgian chocolates, they were really fresh chocolates, which we collected every week by van, every Monday.” This is a photo of Elena in her shop with a box with feathers made specially for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Elena later took this box to Buckingham Palace: Elena Lederman’s chocolate shop • AJR Refugee Voices Testimony Archive According to Elena, here is how the Royal Family became her customers: “I was the first lady who brought fresh chocolates – of course now they got many – but at the time, they didn’t know what it means to choose the chocolate and fresh cream, they didn’t know. People bought boxes which are all ready, which are – So it was quite a big job, but it was very, very exciting also, because I managed to do that very, very well. And when I first opened the shop, very, very beautiful, I thought – I had an idea. So I took a box with me and I went to Scotland Yard. That day in Scotland Yard, they were just advertising for new staff, you know, for secretaries, and I went in the queue. And when I got in the queue, my turn arrived, they said, “What job do you want?” “Well,” I said, “I don’t come for a job, I want to see the Queen”. I must tell you; at that particular time they thought there is something not right with me. Anyway, they called somebody, and I went to talk to him, and I said, I just started a new business, it’s something which has never been in England before, and I feel the First Lady should be able to taste them, as it’s so new. He said, “Hold on, listen to that.” I said, “God, what are they going to do?” And I’m very natural, I don’t do anything sophisticated, it’s just me, you know. So he came and said, “You’re going to tell me you want to see Her Majesty the Queen?” – “Well”, I said, “yes, I would like her to taste the chocolate” and here is the box,. I gave it to him, he came again, and he said, “Yes, Mrs Lederman, at the [indistinct] the Queen‘s going to see you tomorrow morning, at 9 o’clock in the morning at Buckingham Palace.” So of course, the following morning I went to Buckingham Palace, and the Master of Ceremonies was there, and I made then a much more beautiful box, very beautiful, and I went in, and he said, “Come in” and they served me tea, and he said, “Is that the chocolate?” “Yes.” And so he said, “Well, I’m going to ask you a favour. Would you take one first?” I had to eat one. And in a joke I said, “Well, I know the one which is not poisoned, so I’m having that one.” I made it in a very natural way. And he went, then he came back, and he said, “Her Majesty the Queen is very delighted with those chocolates, and we are going to write to you. And who gave you the idea to come?” “Well,” I said, “Nobody, but I guessed, it’s something completely new, and I’m in England not very long, but I’m very fond of England and all that, and I thought she should have a taste.” And do you know, from that time, she used to go to Harrods, just to get the white chocolate, and then the Queen Mother – I used to go to the Queen Mother nearly once a month. And I used to ring the bell, and then one day they said, “Would you come up?” And I went up to them, and my husband was with me but he could not come, he had to wait downstairs, so I went up with them, I always remember, I saw – Lady Diana’s grandmother used to be at the Court there, and it was a magnificent room. They gave me some tea, and I said to them – Lady Diana was going to get married with Prince Charles at the time and I made up a velvet box, very big, with their photo, and chocolate, and I said, “Will you allow me to present it to them?” And they said, “Certainly”, we know what it’s all about, yes of course you can, we will be very delighted, and she wanted to know all my life story, and she wanted to know all about the war, all what I went through, and I sat there for an hour. My husband was worried what they do to me. You know he got a little bit worried, and they had a camera in the corner obviously, you must understand, and from that time really, whenever there was something special I used to send some chocolate, or I used to go there, when Lady Diana had her first baby I went to the maternity at the Portman, and there were coming a lot of people, coming, naturally with flowers, and as I went to the door, they said, Well, you can’t go in any more, it’s far too many. Prince Charles came out, and he said, “That lady can go too”, and immediately I went in with a basket. I used to make such beautiful things; I must show you some photos. I used to make such fantastic things.“ Read more about Elena here. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain AJR Refugee Voices Family History | Holocaust | ImmigrationOnly online AJR Refugee Voices is a digital archive created by the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) and holds Holocaust survivor and refugee testimony. […]
Open Letter Against the Mistreatment of Jews in Europe This open letter, from The National Archives, was published in The Daily Worker and The Times newspapers in February 1943. Signed by some of the best-known voices of the day, including E.M.Forster, Harold Nicolson, George Bernard Shaw, Beatrice Webb and Rebecca West, the letter reads: Britain Urged To Act Now and Save Jews The following letter appeared in the Times yesterday: – We have noted with satisfaction the Joint Declaration of the United Nations vigorously protesting against the Nazi outrages upon the Jewish people. We desire to associate ourselves with it. But we think that present action to mitigate this barbarism now is even more essential that the assurance of penalties after Hitler’s defeat for those who have shared in the perpetration of the outrages upon the Jews and other victims of Nazi Germany. We suggest that the nation is eager to see the British Government take the lead in attempting to rescue as many as possible of these, the most helpless of Hitler’s victims, as they were also the first; the generous temper in which Italian settlers in Abyssinia have been repatriated to Italy should be applied to the right of the Jews to protection. OBLIGATION In the circumstances, we suggest that it is incumbent on the British Government to take the initiative in the following measures: To make representations by the United Nations to the German Government to permit Jews to leave the occupied countries of Europe.To offer the joint protection of the United Nations to Jews liberated or escaping from the occupied territories.To facilitate the transfer of Jews to and their asylum in the territories and colonies of the United Nations.To urge on neutral countries the desirability of receiving as many Jewish refugees as possible until, with victory, it is possible to consider ways and means of their permanent settlement. Where food and finance raise difficult problems for neutral countries willing to assist, the United Nations should agree to make these available to them.To make available the fullest possible facilities for the immigration of Jewish refugees into Palestine.We suggest that, as a prelude to these large-scale measures, the British Government should offer immediately to admit to Great Britain the largest possible number of Jewish refugees, especially children. We see little difficulty, given good will, in taking all the necessary precautions which the national security demands. We do not deny either the magnitude or the complexity of the Jewish problem. But we do not feel that the Government and nation can stand helplessly by while a whole people is ruthlessly butchered. Verbal sympathy is not enough. We must be prepared, whatever the action of other people, to act with resolution and magnanimity. HISTORIC TRADITION That is an attitude rooted in our historic tradition. Never was it more necessary to prove that it is still a living faith among us. For if we do nothing while a helpless people is assassinated, we shall breed a temper of acquiescence in the barbarism of tyrants which may become one of the unhappiest legacies of this epoch of agony. – Yours faithfully, W.G.S Adams, Phyllis Bottome, A.M. Carr-Saunders, Wyndham Deedes, P.A.M. Dirac, E.M.Forster, G.P.Gooch, R.A.Gregory, Storm Jameson, F.G.Kenyon, A.D.Lindsay, Kingsley Martin, Frederick Maurice, Gilbert Murray, Harold G. Nicolson, John Boyd Orr, Margaret Rhondda, Sankey. George Bernard Shaw, R.H. Tawney, Beatrice Webb, Wedgwood, Rebecca West. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain The National Archives Commercial | Family History | Historical Documents | Holocaust | ImmigrationPartially online The National Archives are the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, located in Kew, South West London. They hold documents […] Menasseh Ben Israel’s petition to Oliver Cromwell 1655 petition for Jews to be allowed to set up places of worship Mosse Mokke in league with the Devil A receipt roll for heavy Jewish taxation • The National Archives
Eva Rott’s Slave Labour Ring This ring, from the collection of the Imperial War Museum, was made by Eva Rott, née Hamburger, while incarcerated as a slave labourer at the Heinkel aircraft factory in Barth. Eva and her friend Klara Rakos, both Hungarian Jews, were deported to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944. They survived several of Dr. Mengele’s selections for the gas chambers. Eva believes that it was their close friendship which aided their survival. They were transported as slave labour to Barth, a sub-camp of Ravensbruck. Here they worked at the Heinkel aircraft factory; Eva made this ring for herself out of aluminium scrap. Eva and Klara were liberated by the Soviet Army on 1 May 1945. Eva was eventually reunited with her mother and stepfather, who had escaped to Tangiers. We love this ring as a testament to Eva’s skill and resistance. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Imperial War Museum Family History | Holocaust | ImmigrationPartially online The Imperial War Museum (IWM) is a national museum based in London, whose archival records cover Holocaust testimony, military history documentation and […]