VOLUME 9 NO.4 APRIL 2009 Blfl journal l^^^l ^^^^1 ^ Association of Jewish Refugees

Rereading The Reader ernhard Schlink's 1995 illiteracy, but at the price of novel Der Vorleser (the incurring a sentence of life Bterm means someone who imprisonment (the other accused reads aloud to someone else) has get off lightly). The novel then been a huge intemational success, recapitulates the theme of translated into some 39 languages, Vorlesen: Berg sends the topping the New York Times imprisoned Hanna tapes on which bestseller list, and receiving the he has recorded novels and poems ultimate accolade of nomination that he has read aloud, thus by Oprah Winfrey. Sales of The eventually enabling her to leam to Reader will doubtless derive a read. Many years later, he visits fresh boost from the film version, her in prison, and they become which was reviewed in our March reacquainted. By now an old Kate Winslet and David Kross as Hanna Schmitz and Michael Berg issue. The original text of the novel woman, she petitions successfully is markedly superior to the film screenplay that causes her to become a camp guard. for early release, but commits suicide on the by David Hare, whose clunking style and Offered promotion in the Siemens factory eve of freedom. evident lack of familiarity with the Germany where she is working in 1943, she prefers to Schlink depicts his woman camp guard of the 1960s do not do justice to the sparse, leave rather than take a job that would as a human being. He presents us with a cool prose of the book, which is interspersed expose her illiteracy; jobless, she is recruited normal, plausibly flesh-and-blood woman with more reflective and lyrical passages. by the SS. The pattem repeats itself in a who is far removed from such monstrous The reason for this Holocaust (or, more small German university town (identifiably figures as Ilse Koch, the notorious 'Beast of correctly, post-Holocaust) novel's success is Heidelberg) some 15 years later, when she Buchenwald', or Irma Grese, executed in not hard to find: it lies in the acute, meets Michael: offered promotion to an office 1945 for crimes committed at Auschwitz and psychologically and emotionally convincing job, she abandons her existing position as a Bergen-Belsen, or Hermine Braunsteiner portrayal of a teenage boy's affair in the late tram conductor and disappears, with not a Ryan, a camp guard at Majdanek who was 1950s with an older woman who turns out word to the lover whose life she thereby discovered living in New York and whose to have been a concentration camp guard. permanently damages. trial in the 1970s revealed acts of dreadful The boy, Michael Berg, grows up to become Michael goes on to study law. Some years cruelty. the middle-aged man who narrates the later, at a trial of former concentration camp Hanna is her illiteracy apart - an novel; through his narration we are skilfully guards, he is dismayed to recognise Hanna ordinary working-class woman, the course induced to perceive the way in which his among the accused. Unable to read any of of whose life takes her to Auschwitz as a emotional development has been stunted by the documents relating to the trial and the perpetrator, but without conscious intent; his affair with the woman, Hanna Schmitz, charges she is facing, she is ill equipped to she is no deranged psychopath or sadist, but and by her abrapt departure from his life. defend herself. The trial focuses on an the kind of person one might encounter any Reading plays a singular role in their incident at the end of a death march: the day on the street. Professor Bill Niven of relationship: she so enjoys his reading aloud surviving female prisoners were locked Nottingham Trent University has argued, to her that it becomes part of the regular ovemight in a church and, when this caught on the basis of certain surface similarities ritual that precedes their lovemaking. He fire during an air raid, the guards failed to in their stories, that Hanna is modelled on becomes her Vorleser. unlock the doors, leaving the women to bum Ilse Koch, but this overlooks the The novel uses a private, intimate to death. fundamental difference between the two, relationship as the springboard for an Hanna's refusal to betray her illiteracy deriving from the way in which Schlink has analysis of the ever-troubled question of reaches its highpoint in her damaging conceived his character. post-war Germany's relationship with its admission that she was the author of a However, anyone reading Der Vorleser Nazi past. The key to Hanna Schmitz's report on this incident, an admission that is from a Jewish point of view may well have behaviour lies in her shame at her illiteracy. patently false, given that she can neither serious reservations about the novel. As we gradually realise, it is her illiteracy read nor write. Once again she conceals her I continued overleaf \

I AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009

REKEADI\(, THE READER continued from page I

Astonishingly, Schlink contrives to depict principal victim of the former camp guard, our parents' crimes! See how our delicate a Nazi concentration camp guard who is not her Jewish victims during the Holocaust. psyches have been wounded by the after­ condemned to life imprisonment without, One reason why Der Vorleser has proved math of the Holocaust! Oh, the poor things. apparently, ever having committed any so popular with schoolteachers is that their Anthony Grenville major crime. Hanna first worked at students easily identify with Michael and Auschwitz, but we learn almost nothing quickly imderstand how badly he has been AJR leaders in meeting with about what she did there. She then spent damaged emotionally by the affair with Bundestag Vice-President some months at a work camp near Cracow, Hanna. But what of the damage done by where her most sinister activity was to have Hanna to the Jews in her charge, damage young and delicate women prisoners come that would clearly have been of an altogether to her room at night, before they were different order of magnitude? 'selected' to be sent back to Auschwitz and Jews, as victims and survivors, play only gassed; it transpires at her trial that she had a peripheral part in the novel. The two the women read aloud to her - a blow to the Jewish survivors of the fire in the church watching Michael, their unwitting successor, are known only as 'The Mother' and 'The AJR Chairman Andrew Kaufman (sec­ but hardly a serious crime. Daughter', designations that ship them to ond from left) and Directors Gordon Greenfield (right) and Michael On the death march, Hanna's crime, that some extent of their individuality; they Newman recently met with Frau of failing to unlock the doors of the buming remain outside that reahn of human society Petra Pau, Vice President of the Ger­ church, was one of omission rather than within which the narrator moves with some man Bundestag, in London. The meeting provided an opportunity to commission. The women who died there fell measure of easy familiarity, permanently explain the work of the AJR, espe­ victim to an Allied air raid, in a rather stereotyped by their origins and their cially the Homecare programme, for unfortunate parallel to Goebbels's experiences in the camps as representatives which the AJR receives a substantial grant from the Claims Conference, propaganda image of the British and of 'the Other'. The few pages towards the provided by the German Govern­ American air forces as 'terror bombers' end of the book that describe the middle- ment. raining death and destmction on innocent aged Michael's visit to the 'Daughter' in New people in the Reich. Finally, Hanna is plainly York are among the novel's weakest (though innocent of the detail that seals her fate, her better by far than the corresponding passage ANNUAL GENERAL alleged authorship of the report on the of the film). MEETING incident. It would have been more credible The sufferings of the Jews under Nazism ofthe if Hanna and her fellow guards had, for are made to take second place to the emo­ ASSOCIATION OF example, themselves set the church on fire, tional dismption caused to the post-war JEWISH REFUGEES MONDAY 22 JUNE 2009 or if they had callously killed their prisoners generation of Germans by the legacy left 11.00 AM off in some other way. As it is, a former them by the previous generation, a dismp­ at the camp guard emerges almost as the victim tion that cannot begin to compare with the Paul Balint AJR Centre of a miscarriage of justice - a deplorable almost unimaginable scale of the misery 15 Cleve Road, London NW6 piece of unmerited exculpation that is hard caused by the Holocaust. Schlink's depiction Lunch will be served at a cost of £5. to swallow, even in a work of fiction. of the sad plight of Michael Berg's gene­ Space is limited. If you would like to reserve a place for lunch, please call A second cause for unease is the use of ration comes, when set alongside the Head Office on 020 8385 3070 by the Holocaust as a mere backdrop to the Holocaust, perilously close to self-pity, to Monday 8 June 2009. troubled psychological and emotional that narcissistic self-absorption so charac­ Agenda development of a young German growing teristic of post-war Germany's attempts to Annual Report 2008 up in the Adenauer years. Professor Jeremy come to terms with the burden of its recent Hon. Treasurer's Report Discussion history. Look, the novel seems to cry, we Adler of King's College London has Election of Committee of criticised Schlink powerfully for creating are the victims too! See how we suffer for Management* sympathy for the perpetrators rather than *No person other than a committee the victims, in an article in the Suddeutsche AJR Directors member retiring by rotation shall be Zeitung of 20 April 2004 entitled 'Die Kunst, Gordon Greenfield elected or re-elected at any general Michael Newman meeting unless:- Mitleid mit den Mordern zu erzwingen. Carol Rossen (a) he or she is recommended by the Einspruch gegen ein Erfolgsbuch'; Adler A)R Heads of Department Committee of Management, or accuses Schlink of engaging in a Susie Kaufman Organiser. AJR Centre (b) not less than twenty one clear days Sue Kurlander Social Services before the date appointed for the 'sentimental falsification of history'. AJR Journal meeting, notice executed by ten members But the prime object of our sympathy is Dr Anthony Grenville Consultant Editor qualified to vote at the meeting has been Dr Howard Spier Executive Editor given to the Association of the intention surely the narrator, Michael Berg, whose life Andrea Goodmaker Secretarial Advertisements to propose that person for election or has been mined by Hanna Schmitz. On this re-election together with notice executed Views expressed in the AJR Journal are not by that person of his or her willingness to reading, it is a young German of the post- necessarily those of the Association of Jewish be elected or re-elected. Holocaust generation who becomes the Refugees and should not be regarded as such. AJRJOURNAL APRIL 2009

'Abi me lebf: As long as I'm alive!

hese are the words of my Yiddish- my father and mother NEWTONS speaking booba (grandma). How We moved to Golders Green in 1940 Leading Hampstead Solicitors Toften I have agreed. Never more so and Oscar came with us. Four months advise on than very recently. after leaving Petherton Road, our house I was a guest speaker for the AJR's HGS was bombed; a month later a bomb fell Property, Wills, Family Trusts group on 10 November In the December on the brook in our garden. The house and Charitable Trusts issue of the AJR Journal there was a letter and its occupants survived, but for days by Laszio Roman. I was then told by Head we had no window or chimneys. French and German spoken Office that a lady from Manchester had I married in 1941 and Oscar moved phoned to say she had met me in 1942 elsewhere but kept in touch. He met Home visits arranged and would like to get in touch. Her name Gisela in 1942 and introduced her to us. I was Gisela Feldman. That rang a bell. I met her and her mother in West Hamp­ 22 Fitzjohn's Avenue, phoned her and an old memory was stead in 1942. Oscar and Gisela married London NW3 SNB revived. in 1943. Tel: 020 7435 5351 In 1938 a Mr and Mrs Feldman from Oscar's parents survived by walking to Poland came to visit us. Both my parents Russia from Poland and finally came to Fax: 020 7435 8881 were Polish - my father left at the age of live in England. My father's extended eight - and one of his sisters had married family - some 50 of them - perished with a Goldschmidt and a sister of Mr Feldman the exception of one son of the sister had also married a Goldschmidt. They had Goldschmidt. I actually met him twice, in one son, Oscar, who was a student in Paris in 1947 and in Melbourne, Australia England. They, like my father, were in 1991. convinced war was imminent and asked Of my mother's family we knew of only JACKMAN - if Oscar could stay with us as they were three survivors - one went to New York returning to Poland. It was agreed and and two sisters to Israel. £ SILVERMAN he became one of our family - my parents, I doubt if Gisela and I will ever meet COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CONSULTANTS booba, two younger sisters and myself. but we hope to stay in contact by At the time, we lived in Petherton telephone. She, like me, gives talks to Road, Highbury and were fortunate to schools and communities on the have a radio. Leading up to 3 September, Holocaust in the vain hope that mankind we were all glued to it. In particular, we will have learned something of man's were struck by the horror of Oscar and inhumanity to man. Rest in peace those my parents on hearing that Germany had who are no longer with us but, as long as invaded Poland. Oscar's parents were we're alive, let's keep in touch! there, as was a large, extended family of Bertha Klug Telephone: 020 7209 5532 Yom Hashoah - Recalling Anne Frank [email protected] n Monday 20 April Pinner Syna­ mother were betrayed, arrived in gogue will host another of its Auschwitz some months before the O renowned evenings of remembrance Franks, and returned to Amsterdam in of those who perished in the Holocaust. June 1945. Her mother married Otto Frank This year's theme is 'Making Hatred in 1953 and supported his work. Eva AUSTRIAN and GERMAN History'. moved to England and married Zvi, whose PENSIONS The focus of the evening will be the family were also German-Jewish refugees. 80th anniversary of the birth of Anne She published Eva's Story, which led to Frank. Dr Eva Schloss, Anne's 'posthumous' the creation of a multi-media play regu­ PROPERTY stepsister, will be a keynote guest speaker, larly performed around the world, and in RESTITUTION CLAIMS as will Rabbi David Soetendorp, founder 2006 wrote a second book. The Promise. EAST GERMANY - BERLIN chairman of the Anne Frank Trust UK. Rabbi David Soetendorp was born in Anne Frank, younger daughter of Otto Amsterdam to a family who had also On instructions our office will and Edith Frank, recorded in her diary her spent years in hiding. His father, also a assist to deal with your thoughts on the days the family spent in rabbi, became a close friend of Otto Frank hiding in the annexe in Amsterdam be­ after the war While growing up, David applications and pursue the fore their deportation. With the exception got to know Otto well. Rabbi Soetendorp matter with the authorities of Otto, everyone in hiding in the annexe studied for the rabbinate in England and died. Returning to Holland after the war. became a rabbi in Bournemouth. He has For further information Otto met Fritzi Geiringer {Eva Schloss's written about the 'second-generation and an appointment mother), who had also survived Auschwitz. phenomenon'. Now retired and living in please contact: The evening, beginning with a candle- Pinner, he has qualified as a counsellor lighting ceremony, will be attended by a and psychotherapist. ICS CLAIMS number of dignitaries and West European AJR members are cordially invited to 707 High Road, Finchley ambassadors or their representatives. attend and encouraged to bring their London N12 OBT Also, Dr Stephen Smith MBE, Chairman friends and members of their families, of the UK Holocaust Memorial Day Trust especially teenage grandchildren. The Tel: 020 8492 0555 evening, for which there is no charge, and founder of Beth Shalom, will give an Fax: 020 8348 4959 address. starts at 8:00 pm (refreshments at Email: [email protected] Dr Eva Schloss, born in Vienna in 1929, 10.00 pm). lived in Holland, where she and her Brian Eisenberg AJRJOURNAL APRIL 2009

UNDERPAID. UNDERFED AND OVERWORKED?

This is the third and final part of a selection of letters responding to the article '"Underpaid, Underfed and Overworked" Refugees in Domestic Service' by Anthony Grenville which appeared in our December 2008 issue.

I was 17 years old, from Vienna, the loved, the Kindertransport, he was invited to stay tor's household. They drew on their own spoilt child of a middle-class family. I had with us. experience as employers of domestic staff no domestic experience whatsoever The Mrs Watson's brother-in-law and aunt to establish a modus vivendi for their family who employed me lived in a small were evacuated to Leamington Spa to live employer and themselves. They were even house in Finchley, north London. Hewas a with the family. Two charming old ladies able to save money, essential for their bus driver They had a girl of six, Celia, and were most grateful when I helped them. future life of live-in employment: dismissal a boy of 13 months. They had never had Yes, I emptied the chamber-pot for the meant being out on the street with their servants before and I heard the wife brag mother-in-law. They asked me not to tell suitcases. Friends, generally refugees to the neighbours: 'We have a maid now!' Mrs Watson and gave me two-and-six themselves, helped until they found new I had to address them as Madam and Sir each time. Mrs Watson encouraged me to employment. They had nine jobs in seven I had to clean the house and wash the go to the synagogue in Birmingham for years. They made the most of what was nappies, his shirts, her knickers, Celia's the Jewish holidays. I was encouraged to available to them. They fully appreciated dresses. I did everything that was asked do Viennese cooking and was highly ap­ that they were living in a free country. of me but it was never right. preciated. The wages weren't grandiose Dr Victor Simons My room was in the attic: a bed, a but I had so much comfort, freedom and London NW3 chair, a small table, three coat hangers. wonderful food that I didn't complain. No electric light, only a candle. I had one I found a domestic job for my brother Arriving from Germany in May 1939, I pillow and one thin blanket and I was in Leamington Spa and my father arrived descended with all my woHdIy possessions freezing. I was starving too. I sometimes a week before war broke out. Mrs Watson on my new employer, a 60-year-old pinched food off Celia's tray. I was very, gave me time off to go to the Home Office English widow. We took an instant liking very unhappy, longing for my parents and to speed up my father's application. When to each other and I was treated as her my little sister, my home, my Vienna. he arrived in Britain he was invited to stay close companion. After four desperate weeks, I had my with us and lived there several weeks. In July 1939, when my lift containing first day off. I took an Underground train, Meanwhile, the family where my mother a household of furniture arrived, I had no going anywhere and nowhere. As I sat in worked invited my father to live in the money to pay for storage and she offered the train tears rolled down my cheeks. house with her He came on a visitor's to store my belongings for free in her Opposite me was a young man. He asked: permit. garage. She helped me find accommoda­ 'Why are you crying?' I burst out: 'I am a I left the job and worked in an office tion for my parents, who arrived two days Jewish refugee from Vienna. I am working as a bookkeeper I stayed in contact with before the outbreak of war, and the fur­ as a domestic for a bus driver and his wife the family and, after the war, when I was niture was put to good use. Living on the who I have to call Sir and Madam. I miss married, I invited Mrs Watson to our home. coast in Hove meant that all three of us my parents!' I sobbed and sobbed. I would never have been able to manage were under the threat of internment. My He answered: 'I was a student at the our own five-bed roomed house if I hadn't employer went to the police and vouched University of Vienna. I am a Hungarian had the experience in Leamington Spa. for the fact that far from being anti- Jew. I am married to a lovely non-Jewish So, not all employers were bad. It British, we were grateful to the British Irish girl. She would love to meet you. We depended a lot on the girls. They should people for providing us with a safe haven. have a nice home - I will give you our have realised that such a job had saved We were not interned. address. Whenever you have nowhere to their lives and should have done their best When, in her old age, she entered a go, you must come and visit us.' 'I have to please their employer instead of care home, my parents, my husband and nowhere to go now! May I come with complaining. Katie Rich I sent her a monthly cheque to cover her you?', I asked. I followed him from the London NWII personal needs. When she died, she left train. It's a long story ... me a brooch and I treasure this memento Hertha Lowy Father had been a Rechtsanwalt in Ber­ to this day. Now, at the age of 95, I am London NWS lin, mother a housewife. In 1939 they grateful that I was able to pay her back were granted temporary permission to in some small measure for saving my life. I arrived in Great Britain from Vienna in stay in Great Britain. The conditions were Emmy Golding September 1938 aged 21 and had a stringent. They had to re-emigrate. To this Edgware, Middx domestic job with a family in Leamington end, they had to provide proof that they Spa, where I spent the years until the end had a quota number for admission to the I too arrived in this country on a domestic of the war USA. They weren't allowed to take up paid permit but I have never noticed any The family had a five-bedroom house employment while in Great Britain. In any contributor draw parallels with the arrival with a large garden. I had a small but case, their German professional qualifi­ of mainly Polish Jews after the First World comfortable room. The family consisted cations were useless. They were totally War who had been hoping to find a better of Professor Watson, a mathematics dependent on the generosity of their life in Germany. These 'Ostjuden' were teacher at Birmingham University, Mrs sponsors, one of father's former clients. generally regarded by the native German Watson and their ten-year-old son They needed an occupation which was Jews as inferior and, in many cases, Timothy. I managed everything: cleaning, internationally portable. They learnt to contact with them was avoided. cooking, polishing, looking after the boy, cook. After father's release from intern­ The kindest thing you can say about making fires, lighting the boiler ment in the summer of 1941, there was a the British Jews is that we too were I was called 'Fraulein' and treated more shortage of labour and they were granted considered 'Ostjuden' by them and were as a friend. I was allowed to help myself work permits as cook and parlour maid. treated accordingly. We, of all people, to food. When my brother arrived with Their ifirst job was as 'live-ins' in a doc­ I continued opposite | AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009

Family tree

hough well aware of the marriage in my mother's family current intense interest in during the first four decades of the Tfamily history, I had never twentieth century. The photograph expected to pursue this topic in displayed here shows my great- connection with my own family grandmother with all her then background. Having come as a grandchildren taken in - I think - young refugee from Vienna in 1939, 1.1 -.. «'•« "ap 1920. Of those six children, two I could hardly expect any help from (including my future mother on the either census returns or parish right of the granddaughters) had registers! the full four Jewish grandparents. Recently my son wanted to know Two others had three Jewish about the various generations to grandparents and the remaining which he is related. As I tried to tell two had just two Jewish him what I knew, we both realised grandparents. that there was a complicated story Intermarriage was thus quite to be told. I offered to set down as much common, in my mother's family at least, as I could piece together of the story I have often felt that in the time of my grandparents and my relying on my own memory for want of parents. There seems to have been a any official sources of information. these people, many long common source of all this mixing. It The first thing I did was to purchase dead, noiu have some kind appears that over and over again these some software so that I could set the family members found their partners whole thing out on my computer I can of posthumous existence. either as full members of the Social now automatically build and amend my This, to my surprise, I have Democratic Party or of its youth family tree and print it out. I have often organisation. The full extent of this came looked at the various generations as set found strangely satisfying. as a complete surprise to me. out and felt that these people, many long I suppose that in preserving What had obscured this fact from me dead, now have some kind of was that my own parents had met under posthumous existence. This, to my their memory I feel I am quite different circumstances. My father surprise, I have found strangely satisfying. had been a keen amateur footballer I suppose that in preserving their memory in a very small way playing for the famous Hakoah Jewish I feel I am in a very small way undoing undoing some of Hitler's sports club. My mother met him while some of Hitler's deadly legacy supporting the team. When I told my son With the passage of time I have deadly legacy. about this, he immediately said that my become more committed to this project. mother had been a WAG (wife and I have a collection of family photographs my understanding. All this is on my girlfriend)! My first instinct was to deny which I have kept since my mother's mother's side of my family On my father's this, bearing in mind how much she had death. These I have been matching, where side, there is no one I can ask. There I am done over the years to minimise the effect I can, with the people listed on the chart. aware of certain gaps in my knowledge on me of the catastrophe that befell us I have also been fortunate enough to be (known unknowns), but there must all in 1938. I then reflected that her able to talk on the phone to a second certainly be other details of which I have football-supporting days had been much cousin, seven years older even then I am, no idea (unknown unknowns). earlier, during her late teens. So I agreed who lives abroad and has filled in various One example of this greater that yes, indeed, she had been a WAG. gaps and corrected a number of errors in understanding is the extent of inter- Erwin Schneider

UNDERPAID UNDERFED AND OVERWORKED ? cont from page 4 should be free of all prejudices in view of Auschwitz together with the rest of the often ten or more people to clean and our history constantly repeating itself. But family. cook for have we learned this important lesson? Up to the age of nine or ten, I had The little granddaughter learnt to walk Are our brothers in Israel not making the grown up with a live-in maid and my plan 'helping me' by hanging on to the floor same mistake again by treating the Arabs for the future had been to study medicine. polisher and we spent many nights all not as their equals? This was not to be. With the start of the together in the underground shelter built Marion Smith war, a month and a half after my arrival by grandpa in the garden. Harrow, Middx in England, my employers were evacuated. We got in touch again 20 years ago, I found myself another domestic job in when the family spotted a piece in the A couple of years ago I bought the book the same area of north London and I local paper about the 'Refugees from Treasures of Jewish Heritage (The Jewish couldn't have chosen a more interesting Nazism' exhibition showing a picture of Museum, London) and found, to my or busier household! the youngster and me on top of the amazement, a photograph of a form my It was very hard and fussy housework, shelter prospective employer completed in order cleaning every nook and cranny of a huge Schmerzt dich in deiner Brust to employ me. house and doing all the cooking, as well Das harte Wort 'Du musst' The family readily agreed that I should as helping to look after the enormous Dann macht dich eins nur still bring my three-year-old cousin with me. garden. We also provided resident Das stoize Wort: Ich will! Sadly, at the last moment, his mother hospitality for military officers from Hilda Schindler refused to let him go and he died in overseas when on leave, so there were London N14 AJRJOURNAL APRIL 2009

rescue mission and some of the other peo­ ple involved in it, I strongly recommend Nicholas Winton and the Rescued Genera­ fm'nm$% The Editor reserves the right tion by Muriel Emanuel and Vera Gissing, to shorten correspondence published by Vallentine Mitchell. The con­ 1 TO IDE ) submitted for publication tents were approved by Nicky Winton. Tom Schrecker, Val d'Isere, France N. EDITOR^ Sir - There is some truth in what you say about Nicholas Winton taking less risks. If he had been apprehended, he could not have carried out his worthwhile task. His NICHOLAS WINTON - 4. They were part of the Kindertransport mother, who supported him whole­ THE HISTORICAL RECORD organisation but Nicholas Winton was a heartedly, also played a big part in the Sir - With regard to Tom Schrecker's letter valuable link. That Is praise, not a dis­ rescue of many children. That includes the (February), your readers may be interested tortion. three of us, who were taken In by a lady in the following information. It is also Please note: All children had to have the called Miss Harder Her brave deed was important for the historical facts that might £50 deposit. Some Czech children were sent mentioned in Hansard. Mrs Barbara Winton otherwise get distorted. Here is the to Dovercourt and many German and Aus­ visited Miss Harder's sweet and tobacco­ transcript from the Kindertransport film trian children had guarantors here, to whom nist shop in Archway, Highgate. When she interview with Nicholas Winton: they went direct. I was one of them, as were mentioned she was trying to place three NICHOLAS WINTON: 'I went out round the those on the train with me from Munich. girls aged 12, 13 and 15, whose mother camps with Eleanor Rathbone at the time 5. I implied nothing beyond the statement did not want them to be parted, Ms Harder and the Reverend Rosalind Lee, who was that I considered calling Winton the 'Brit­ made her decision. Mrs Winton was amazed the head of the Unitarian Church and the ish Schindler' inappropriate. We agree and warned her of the responsibility. My people in the camps were those people on this without qualification. book Three Lives in Transit tells some of who'd fled from Sudetenland and hadn't Bea Green JP. London SW13 the story. got either friends or relatives to stay with I have since found out Miss Harder's first and they were just put into camps. I mean I Sir - Regarding Bea Green's letter (Decem­ names: Bertha Emily Apparently she was an was talking to Doreen Warriner who was ber 2008), Mr Winton would be the last only child. Her father was a hairdresser, looking after the grown ups and she was person to describe himself as 'Britain's probably also at Bentalls in Kingston. The telling me that not only from the work but Schindler' - especially as his motives were manager there was her good friend. I finance and from the personnel point of totally humanitarian and he never even remember him coming to the shop. He view there was nobody who could deal with talked about this until many years later probably thought: How can she do this? ALL the children who needed to be got out He never claimed he was in any danger When we had the first Remembering for and I said: well if we form a kind of embryo from the Nazis: he did not go on a skiing the Future event, Nicky, as the 'children' organisation in Prague which could go into holiday because a friend begged him to know him, mentioned the debt he owed operation if I can get the British end come to Prague instead to help getting to Barazetti and Chadwick. He hoped to organised, so be it.' people out of the country, many of whom continue and was very frustrated with the had to flee from Germany and Austria for negative attitude of the USA, Australia and SHOT OF TRAIN political reasons and were in great danger Canada. NICHOLAS WINTON: 'And the Home Office When he realised there was no provision Laura Selo, London NWl 1 made no problems whatsoever They made for saving the children he decided to make conditions but no problems and the this his priority. His employer demanded 'GOD ON TRIAL' conditions were that each child had to have that he return to London after two weeks, Sir - Peter Phillips's article (February) was a £50 guarantor, which was a lot of money which he did. one of his usual shallow, callous, muddled in those days and had to have a family Due to his dedicated preparations and ill-informed tirades. Progressive where they could go who would look after during those two weeks in Prague he was 'rabbis' who don't believe in anything, not them till they were 17. Which was of course able to continue this work in London, even in G-d, who convert non-Jews left, quite different and separate to the children helped by his mother, Barbara Winton, and right and centre to their pseudo-religion - who were brought in from Germany who a part-time secretary. they are the ones who make sure we will, came in in bulk and went to Dovercourt. His mother looked after us teenage girls G-d forbid, not survive as Jews. What is left And from there they had to find homes for once we were in Britain. I was privileged of the Jewish religion without belief in G-d them. I couldn't bring anybody in until to meet Nicholas Winton in 1940 when he and in the Torah! No wonder Orthodox there was a home found for them.' came to visit her, still in the Red Cross uni­ rabbis don't want to share a platform with form in which he had served in France be­ them. (Mrs) M. Stern, London NW3 So my response to Tom Schrecker: fore it was overrun by the Nazis. 1. I am happy to accept the details about As far as I know, none of the 669 chil­ MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE the skiing holiday cancellation. dren was found a foster home by the Sir - Jews of all persuasions actively resist 2. 'On arrival [Winton] saw that nothing was committee which had brought children attempts by developers in Ukraine, Poland, being done for the endangered children from Germany and Austria, although Russia and other countries to build over and he was told that nothing could be Bloomsbury House helped some of us in Jewish cemeteries. It is particularly done ...' Factually incorrect - see above. practical ways. distasteful to read Dorothea Shefer- Elaine Blond, daughter of Michael Marks In 1945 another 700 children arrived Vanson's (March) dismissal of similar (M&S), was another indefatigable helper from Czechoslovakia - these were the camp objections to the building of a 'Museum with the children. When the Chief Rabbi survivors and a remarkable and dedicated of Tolerance' on a Muslim cemetery in objected to her finding non-Jewish homes lady undertook to look after more than 30 Jerusalem on the spurious grounds that for them, she commented: 'What do you of the youngest children. Her name is Alice these are the rantings of a known anti- want me to do with them? Send them Goldberger, a former refugee from Israeli Arab. Were the German government back?' She was another valuable link. Germany The book Love Despite Hate tells to announce a plan to build a museum of 3. 'Trevor Chadwick and Bill Barazetti were the story of those children. SJM, London tolerance on the site of, say, the Berlin not working to get children out at that Jijdischer Friedhof WeiBensee, the public time, though later they, and others, did Sir - Regarding my letter mainly about Sir outcry would, correctly, be enormous. wonderful work in helping to save the Nicholas Winton, for anyone who may be Arthur Oppenheimer children.' Yes - good. interested in fuller information about his Hove AJRJOURNAL APRIL 2009

BERLIN KINDERTRANSPORT MONUMENT creation of a united front among the exiles, KITCHENER CAMP NOT A PRISON Sir - 'Kindertransporte: Zuge ins Leben - during the premiership of Leon Blum. Sir-Calling Kitchener Camp an internment Zuge in den Tod' is the inscription on the Eric Bourne camp, Ellen Minkwitz (March) implies it plaque of Frank Meisler's evocative monu­ Milldale, Alstonefield was some kind of prison. This gives a com­ ment in Berlin. It was also the heading of pletely wrong impression. The camp was a a major article in the Berliner Morgenpost Sir -1 do not agree with the title of Anthony place of refuge made available after on 1 December (which I consulted). The Grenville's article about the events in Ger­ Kristallnacht by the British Government to monument is not a replica of the Liver­ many in 1918/19: the German Revolution young men from Germany and Austria. pool Street sculpture, which memorialises did not fail. A democratic republican con­ They were free to enter and leave the camp the Kindertransport to Britain from 30 No­ stitution replaced an imperial autocratic at will. I could visit my father there from vember 1938 to 31 August 1939, but one. That was certainly a major political nearby Minster, where I was looked after encompasses all child (Kinder) Holocaust revolution (and it was not only that either: by two wonderful non-Jewish English ladies victims - the rescued small minority and we need only consider the revolutionary and he could cycle over to see the overwhelming majority who were nature of much of Weimar culture). The me. trapped and transported to death camps. revolution that failed was the Spartacist When France fell, the camp was closed I am therefore puzzled that a postage revoltof January 1919.1 do not accept that as, being in Kent, it was seen as vulnerable stamp picture in which little is discernible only a profound social upheaval deserves in the event of invasion. The men living was substituted for my description of the to be called a revolution. there were given the choice of joining the monument in my article in February's Jour­ Ralph Blumenau, London Wl 1 Pioneer Corps or internment, mostly on the nal and the words 'Kind' and 'Kinder' were Isle of Man. My father was older than narrowly redefined as the pre-war CONGRATULATIONS TO KATIA most of the other men at the camp, hav­ Kindertransportees (for which, at the time, Sir - I would like to add my congratula­ ing being given special permission to stay my two sisters and I, being of Polish par­ tions to the many that will undoubtedly there on his release from Dachau. He entage, were deemed not to qualify as we be showered upon Katia Gould on the oc­ therefore chose internment but under­ had a country, Poland, to go to!). casion of her 90th birthday. It was my stood why this was then thought necessary. The monument depicts seven life-sized privilege and pleasure to work with Katia He didn't complain, saying 'After all, many children on a bronze railtrack plinth. At the and Richard Grunberger on AJR Infor­ people went to the Isle of Man for their back, two neat children in brown bronze, mation for five years. Although not the kind holidays.' Stella Curzon, Ruislip their smart suitcases and violin case up­ of person to take any nonsense, Katia right, look ahead to the West. In always had a keen sense of humour Let's ANTI-SEMITISM AT THE NATIONAL front. East-facing, in black bronze, are five face it, she didn't sack me so she has to Sir - Before booking tickets at the National anguished children in shabby clothes and be game for a laugh! Theatre for Burnt by the Sun, note the eye­ laceless boots. Behind them is a huddle of She wasn't a bad-looking girl either, and catching paragraph in the promotional black battered suitcases gaping empty I see from the photo in the March journal leaflet: 'What is the connection between but for a tiny naked baby doll missing one that she's still a bit of a cutie. Samson's story, the current atrocities in leg in the corner of one case. Well done Katia, you're a star Thanks Palestine, and Burnt by the Sun! Terror is for all the help and encouragement you I was touched to learn from Lisa the connection.' Schaefer on 21 December that the pathos gave me, and the endless list of good works In fact, there is no Samson. If ever there of Frank Meisler's masterpiece has so you undertook for so many people over the was a red herring, this one is outstanding affected Berliners that every day since its years. Can I come to your 120th birthday and does not befit the NT. The play is by unveiling the monument has been covered party? Maurice Newman, Dublin Peter Flannery about Stalin's atrocities - with beautiful fresh flowers. I feel such as against the Jews. We know that privileged to have been a participant SURVIVORS AND SURVIVAL anti-Semitism knows no bounds, is 'Kind Zeitzeuge' (child survivor witness) to Sir - I find the AJR Journal compulsive endemic In Britain and is perpetrated by its unveiling. May it go on inspiring reading even though I don't think of myself those with a low mentality. thoughtfulness and compassion for all as a refugee, having arrived in the UK from It is the 'in thing' and Gaza is the who suffer persecution. Prague on VJ Day, when there was no convenient pretext. The fact that Israel Bronia Veitch, Shipley, Yorks longer anyone to seek refuge from. pulled out of Gaza and was forced to return Recently I have been entertained by the to seek out the murderers firing rockets 'FAILURE OF A REVOLUTION' correspondence in your letters columns indiscriminately and hiding their weapons Sir - As usual, I greatly appreciated Anthony which raised the issue of who is entitled to under children's beds does not enter the Grenville's leading feature in the last issue. call themselves a 'survivor'. heads of the Lumpenproletariat or those His contributions make subscribing to the I spent the war years in Terezin, of the upper classes who always wanted journal worthwhile in itself. Auschwitz and associated slave-labour to drown Jews in a glass of water, as my I should just like to make one comment. camps, ending up in Buchenwald by way father used to say. At the last moment, in 1932, it must have of a 'death march' followed by a week of The optimists proclaim 'It can't happen been recognised that the threat from the intermittent travel and snow storms in here.' If it could happen in Germany and Nazis was greater than the rivalry between open rail wagons. None of my family who Austria, it certainly can. We, of all people, the KPD and the SPD. I distinctly remember were deported with me survived. should have learned this lesson. It is better my father taking me aged eight to a great I am profoundly thankful for the im­ to get Burnt by the Sun than in a gas oven. rally in the Berlin stadium - the arena was probable turn of events which enabled me We must act before it is too late! awash with the red flags of the KPD; we to survive but I take no pride in the fact. Fred Stern, Wembley, Middx Social Democrats seemed to have occupied Heroism was not a characteristic of camp seats higher up. Undoubtedly there were survival. I am reminded of warning notices DER HUND MIT DER WURST speeches, which, of course, I didn't regarding Japanese apes that appear in Sir - Paul Samet's letter in your February understand. What I do remember clearly is Japan's national parks which advise that issue reminded me of the alternative words that at the end we all stood up and sang looking the males in the eye is a challenge my father sang to the Anvil Chorus from // 'BriJder zur Sonne zur Freiheit' followed by that causes them to attack - that is a pretty Trovatore: the 'Internationale', songs which I knew as exact analogy of how we viewed our guards well, or better than, 'Hanschen Klein' or in every respect. Ach ich hab es gleich gesagt Die Wurst die schmeckt nach Seife. 'Alle meine Entchen'. Everyone alive today is a survivor but Ach ich hab es gleich gesagt So there was, after all, belatedly and there are differences in what they Die Wurst hat zuviel Salz. ineffectively, some coming-together of the survived. forces of the left. This, incidentally, was Professor Felix Weinberg There must be many examples out there. continued, at least in France, by the London SWl 4 (Mrs) Marion Goldwater, London W5 emigres are relevant today - such as images of Chinese, West Indian and Cypriot REVIEWS emigres, portrayed by Eva Frankfurther NOTES when she worked at Lyons Comer House. THEATRE Forced to leave Austria with her mother, Gloria Tessler Marie-Louise von Motesiczky depicts The man who defied the a nude woman adrift with others on a killing machine oes the creative spirit flourish in choppy sea in a boat. The vision is bleak ARISTIDES - THE OUTCAST HERO trauma and ahenation? The Ben and terrifying. Her life-long friend, Max written and produced by DUri Art Gallery has collaborated Beckmann, who fled Germany after the Alice de Sousa; directed by Bruce with the Courtauld Institute's new MA opening of the notorious Entartete Kunst Jamieson; presented by Galleon teaching module, Arts in Exile in Britain exhibition in Berlin, echoes this nightmar­ Theatre Company 1933-45, to create an exciting exhibition: ish theme of being rowed away, in a tryptich Greenwich Playhouse of bmtality. Schwitters's Ship in the Sea e all owe a debt of gratitude to offers a cubist example of fear and loneli­ those extraordinary individuals ness. Even Emst Eisenmayer's sketches Wwho rescued Jews and others from the Nazis at great risk to themselves. of Southwark and Kensington prefabs and Their courage not only saved thousands, his Cityscape have a dark and alien gloom, but to some degree helped diminish the while Hans Feibusch's Bomb Damage Nazi stain on humanity. near St Paul's carries his own war into All honour then to award-winning the dreariness of shattered buildings over­ screenwriter/producer Alice de Sousa for bringing to the British public the story of looked by a less than reassuring cathedral. a little-known hero: Portugal's aristocratic Hermann Fechenbach's yellow sky wartime consul-general to France, with soaring eagles hints at the predatory Aristides de Sousa Mendes. The career omniscience of the Third Reich. diplomat defied the 'neutral' Salazar regime and issued thousands of visas to The exhibition has prompted the the refugees, including orphans and question: is there a Jewish art? The pregnant women, who were clamouring answer lies perhaps in the spiritual at the embassy gates for an escape route othemess of thejewish artist, rather than to Portugal. It was 1940 and France had just capitulated to the Nazi invaders. the fragmented identity of the emigre. But Salazar insisted that the visas were A glance at the Nash Terraces in intended only for 'clean people' accord­ Regents Park evokes the graceful sym­ ing to the strict 'terms of the Inquisition', metry of Palladian architecture, whose and none to 'aliens' of indeterminate eighteenth-century revival in Britain was nationality, particularly Jews. Through largely inspired by Inigo Jones. The first diplomatic treaties between Spain and Self Portrait with Red Hat by Marie-Louise von Portugal, Aristides was in a position to Motesiczky 1938 exhibition devoted to the architect, help them escape. Andrea Palladio, continues at the In the few days left to make his fatal Forced Journeys: Artists In Exile in Royal Academy in celebration of his quin­ decision before it was discovered, Britain c 1933-1945 (until 19 April). centenary. Palladio worked in Aristides stamped over 30,000 visas for sixteenth-century Vicenza, Venice and the Jews and refugees whose inevitable Largely drawn from the Gallery's extensive deaths he could not square with his collection, it features the great Modernist and Veneto, remoulding the elegance of classi­ Christian conscience. Rabbi Chaim Kruger Expressionist refugee artists whose subtle cal architecture to the needs of his era. From proved a catalyst for his actions, rejecting and dangerous odyssey was to project the the great Venetian churches to the Rialto visas for himself and his family alone Bridge and the Villa Rotunda, he inspired because so many more people were in darkness of their times. need. Summoned back to Lisbon, The 90-work show explores the effects of generations of architects, for whom his Four Aristides remained undaunted, even exile and intemment on artists trapped in Books of Architecture were the alpha beta stopping en route in Bayonne to issue the Second World War and their contribution of the profession. The exhibition blends 1,000 more visas by hand. to British art scholarship. Intemees on the history with technology: large-scale models But Aristides's own life lay in ruins. and fly-through computer animations Discredited by Salazar (who later claimed Isle of Man continued to create work and personal credit for the visa episode), he hold concerts and exhibitions; lithographers accompany his original pen and ink was thrown out of his job and denied the tore up lino from the floor; sculptors like drawings, alongside works by Titian, possibility of returning to the legal Pamina Liebert-Mahrenholz sculpted Veronese and El Greco and his 42 profession. He was even banned from sketches of Julius Caesar's battles! receiving charity. In dire straits, the consul with bread during her month at Holloway was forced to burn the doors of his Prison; and the Dadaist artist, Kurt mansion for firewood and - in a final irony Schwitters, used lino, junk and porridge. - to queue up with the poor at kosher Ben Uri chair David Glasser stresses that Annely Juda Fine Art soup kitchens. the exhibition's focus is the exiled rather 23 Dering Street (off New Bond Street) The man who was born in a palace died Tel: 020 7629 7578 Fax: 020 7491 2139 in 1954 in a Lisbon paupers' hospital, than the Jewish artist. In his introduction to CONTEMPORARY PAINTING wrapped in the robes of a Franciscan the catalogue, he explains that complex AND SCULPTURE monk. All his children had emigrated in issues of identity arising from the status of order to survive, but one of his sons post- AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009 humously rehabilitated his name in the ism was little in evidence in Stephen could have saved the biblical Sodom, USA by a resolution of Congress. Today, Daldry's The Reader (reviewed last month), Stauffenberg is told he is the one right­ like Oskar Schindler, Aristides is honoured it is an integral component of both eous man wfio can save Germany. If 'divine at Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Edward Zwick's Defiance, which drama­ election' confers an extra degree of hero­ Among the Nations, by UNESCO, and tises the intrepid struggle of the Bielski ism, Tuvia Bielski, portrayed almost as a through museums dedicated to his brothers to rescue fellow Jews and ensure Moses figure, can be viewed in the same memory. their survival in Nazi-occupied Belarus, light. As a rabbi tells him, 'I almost lost my There is no question that the drama of and Bryan Singer's Valkyrie, the latest film faith but you were sent by God to save us.' Aristides is the drama of a moment. A about the Stauffenberg plot against Hitler A prime concern voiced by Stauffen­ moment of lucidity and courage in a life It is this elusive quality that provides a berg in the film is how Germany should that might otherwise have been comfor­ link between these very different stories, be run after Hitler has been disposed of. table but uneventful. Aristides found his one set in the forests of subjugated East­ For this he proposes to use the national religious conviction when he was not ern Europe and the other in the heart of reserve army to take on the SS before looking for it. the Reich, thus inviting a further ques­ negotiating with the Allies. There is men­ Sadly, though, this drama is lacking in tion: do we think differently of heroes who tion, too, of 'closing the concentration Alice de Sousa's play, which is strong on fail as distinct from those who succeed? camps' but no overt reference to 'Jews'. detail but weak on passion. The only That these matters can be raised when The film emphasises the difficulty tension comes from a tussle with a petty the films are based on true stories is Stauffenberg and his fellow conspirators bureaucrat, Seabra (Robert Paul), who testimony to the skill of the film-makers. had in dealing with General Fromm, the tries to dissuade the consul from his Although the end result is known, both head of the reserve army. Nevertheless, mission, but the actors share little films are imbued with dramatic tension on 20 July 1944, the plan to kill Hitler with dialogue or emotional response and the and enable the viewer to enter into the a briefcase filled with explosives seems on tone of the play is too declamatory. soul of the central characters. course and 'Operation Valkyrie' is Michael Hucks is a dignified and patri­ The protagonists in Defiance are Tuvia launched - only for the terrible news to cian Aristides but offers no glimpse of the and Zus Bielski who, with their brothers finally come through: 'Hitler is alive.' anguish that such determination must Assael and Aron, escape the slaughter An important factor in both films is have cost him. Barry Davis, so effective in which claimed the lives of their parents, that the 'heroes' are portrayed as human. the recent New End production of Steven siblings and many others in their native Both Tuvia and Zus hear at different stages Berkoff's Sit and Shiver, defines the issues town and find shelter in the forest. There of the deaths of their wives and, while for Aristides as the selfless Rabbi Kruger. they join up with members of the Rus­ both are grief-stricken, they react in very But if this is the poignant moment in the sian resistance, build a virtual village and different ways. Both also form partner­ play, then you can't feel it. succeed in rescuing and bringing succour ships with women they have saved who Alice de Sousa has taken a theme close to 1,200 Jews. While this is obviously a later become their wives. Stauffenberg is to her heart - her own family fled Portugal tale of heroism, a particularly fascinating shown as a devoted husband and father for Britain in 1974 - after her mother's aspect of the film are the contrast and and is always concerned about the fate controversial campaign for improved rivalry between the charismatic yet re­ of his family. education there. She even comes from the strained and reflective Tuvia, who has to While some may complain that a film same area as Aristides and shares his overcome an innate aversion when forced inevitably trivialises the subject it depicts, name. It feels as if her great respect for to fight and kill, and the fiery, emotional this is not my opinion. Both Defiance and him has inhibited her creative freedom. Zus, a natural warrior Which of the two Valkyrie tell stories that are important and There is a point in the play where is more of a hero? While Tuvia, the oldest for that reason alone are worth seeing. Aristides's wife Angelina (Sue Broberg) brother, played by Daniel Craig, is seen Defiance at times seems rather long and discovers that he has a mistress and as the natural leader, it is Zus, played by there are perhaps too many scenes of fathered her child. Here was an Liev Schreiber, who heads the final rescue violence which lack a certain focus. Yet opportunity to explore the conflict mission. the acting is to be commended and there between humanitarian conviction and One area in which the film appears to are many episodes that are moving or human frailty. Instead, Angelina's shocked take liberties with reality is in giving the gripping. There has been criticism too, not outburst sounds like a minor key in this impression that Tuvia and Zus are the least from some members of Stauffen­ exceptional episode in history. elder brothers, whereas Zus was six years berg's family, of having the Scientologist The playwright mentioned in a Radio younger than Tuvia and four years Cruise play the protagonist; nonetheless 4 Woman's Hour interview that she was younger than Assael. In Defiance, Assael, his facial resemblance to the real planning a film on Aristides's life. Hope- played by Jamie Bell, is depicted as a shy, Stauffenberg is striking and I found his ifully this will prove more effective. sensitive young man who discovers that acting plausible. Good support is provided Gloria Tessler he is no mean fighter The real Assael, as by other members of a stellar cast, includ­ mentioned at the end of the film, was ing Kenneth Branagh and Bill Nighy. conscripted into the Red Army and fell in And, to answer the question posed SCREEN the battle of Konigsberg - doubtless a earlier, someone who fails is as capable Heroes successful and failed hero - whereas his brothers survived to of heroism as someone who succeeds. pursue uneventful lives in America. Emma Klein DEFIANCE If death puts the final stamp on directed by Edward Zwick heroism, then Claus von Stauffenberg, starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, played by Tom Cruise, can claim to be MUSIC Jamie Bell, George MacKay doubly a hero. Left with one eye and one Precious package at selected cinemas hand after leading a Panzer division in Tunisia, he is effusively greeted at a DIE MUSIKTRADITION DER JUDISCHEN VALKYRIE reception by the Fuhrer himself, played REFORMGEMEINDE ZU BERLIN directed by Bryan Singer by David Bamber in Downfall mode. The Tel Aviv: Beth Hatefutsoth Feher starring Tom Cruise year is 1944. Perhaps it was because of Jewish Music Center at selected cinemas Stauffenberg's impeccable war record r Herrmann Schildberger was con­ ' hat does it take to be a hero? This that he was chosen by disaffected offic­ ductor of music sung in the Reform question merits attention in the ers after a previous plot to kill Hitler had D Synagogue in Berlin in the interwar context of some recently released failed. Indeed, in the film, in a compari­ years. He emigrated to Melbourne, w; son with the ten righteous men who films spotlighting the Nazi era. While hero- continued overleaf] AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009

REVIEWS conf. from page 9 The monograph consists of a series of essays, some more general such as a Australia in 1939 taking recordings of 'his' experts. To quote from the introduction: description of the Day of Judaism in the music with him. the collection is 'an invaluable memorial Catholic Church, or a discourse on In 1994 Rabbi John Levi taped some to one of the most brilliant among these 'Solidarity with the People of Israel'. Most of these and took them to Beth Hatefut­ (sic) musical traditions'. of the essays cover local initiatives in ten soth, the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora Rudi Leavor cities across Poland - from Lublin to in Tel Aviv, which recognised their im­ Warsaw and Wroclaw - discussing what mense historical value. The museum An important and welcome is being done to remember the past and edited them digitally to produce two CDs beginning to forge bonds with the remaining or of 41 songs of extraordinary quality. The reconstituted Jewish communities. I was majority are by, or arranged by, Louis THE BOND OF MEMORY: POLISH happy to see that in Koszalin, the town Lewandowski and Solomon Sulzer and CHRISTIANS IN DIALOGUE WITH in which I was born when it was still the other Jewish and non-Jewish composers. JEWS AND JUDAISM German Koslin, the two activists who have Handel is represented by 'Hail, the Con­ edited by Zbigniew Nosowski energetically and with a sense of mission quering Hero Comes' from Judas revived the memory of the Jewish Warsaw: Wiez Laboratory, Institute fidaccabeus. Contributions by Beethoven, community before the war in a variety of for Social Analysis and Dialogue Schubert and Schumann are less distin­ ways have credited me for having acted guished. (ul. Trebacka 3, 00-074 Warsaw, as a catalyst. Poland), 2008, 64 pp. All songs are sung in German with a It is possible that this preoccupation little Hebrew now and again. The choir his slender, illustrated volume, is at present largely confined to members consisted of professional singers with sponsored by the Polish Council of of the Catholic Church and to a minority soloists of international renown: Josef T Christians and Jews, is worth its of the Polish population. But it is an Schmidt, Hermann Schey, Friedrich Lechner weight in gold given that it provides important and welcome beginning which among others. The accompanying incontrovertible evidence of the sea augurs well for the future. booklet, running to 100 pages, is the most change that is in progress in Poland in Leslie Baruch Brent comprehensive for any CD ever seen, defining the relationship between the providing, in both English and German, Polish church and the Jewish minority. It the history of how the records were made is essential reading for those who remain In pursuit of intellectual between 1928 and 1930 (when electric in denial about change in Poland. Whilst recording was in its infancy); notes on the there is still a long way to go towards freedom artists and composers; the music itself; reaching the Polish population at large, THE REFUGE AND THE FORTRESS: and personal reflections. Each song is there can be no doubt that the Catholic BRITAIN AND THE FLIGHT FROM headed not only by its title, but also by Church and others are making great and TYRANNY the composer, soloist, organist and date successful efforts to purge Poland of its by Jeremy Seabrook of recording, then a brief explanation of anti-Semitic past and to build a society the music followed by the complete text that embraces and values its Jewish London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, in both languages on opposing pages. heritage and present citizens. 288 pp., with a foreword by John Snow Starting from the end of the booklet, The monograph opens with contribu­ his eminently readable, well- everything is repeated in Hebrew. tions by the Chief Rabbi of Poland, the researched and stimulating book Subjectively it is astonishing how many Polish Ambassador to Israel, and the Jew­ T was published to coincide with the prayers and their music are a cocktail of ish Co-chairman of the Polish Council of 75th anniversary of the founding of the quotes from different sources, even within Christians and Jews. I could do worse than Council for Assisting Refugee Academics a short prayer, e.g. in the dozen or so quote these three key players. The Chief (CARA). First established by William words of 'V'Zot HaTora' half are from Rabbi writes: 'Travelling throughout Poland Beveridge in 1933 as the Academic Deuteronomy 4:44, the other half from I have found, in almost every city, town Assistance Council (AAC), the Exodus 15:18. In the music there are some and village, a group or sometimes indi­ organisation became the Society for the minor and major variations, e.g. a viduals who are restoring their local Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL) suspended note at the end of 'Kol Nidrei' Jewish cemetery or synagogue. Why are in 1936. Since its inauguration, CARA, in as sung by the writer is missing; a D flat they doing it?' He believes that it was John all its guises, has helped over 9,000 near the end of one of my versions of Paul II, the 'Polish Pope', who began and academic refugees, those from 1930s 'Adon Olam' is a D natural here. encouraged the fight against anti-Semitism Nazi-occupied Europe being replaced by Many songs take a bit from one source and that the Jewish presence, reduced by fugitives from Latin America, Africa and and a bit from another These changes are 90 per cent since before the war, is missed Eastern Europe and, more recently, from acceptable depending on usage and may by many, if not all, Poles. countries including Iraq, Iran, China and be due to faulty transcription. Less accept­ The Ambassador asserts that 'Many Cameroon. able are some German words, especially Poles, looking around, perceive this man- The charity devoted itself to assisting if they are relatively unimportant ones like made emptiness, this absence in the Polish refugees who could 'contribute to the conjunctions or weak syllables of words, landscape, which hurts to this day like an common stock of learning' and, in the which are given accents in the music. But open wound.' 'We cannot bring back the 1930s, the majority of their recipients even Brahms is guilty of this in some pas­ murdered Jewish world,' she writes, 'but were, like Max Born, Ernst Chain and Hans sages of his German Requiem. There are we can, and should, bring back the Krebs, male scientists of the highest spelling mistakes, e.g. Kleinstrasse instead memory. This living memory gives birth calibre. The arts were also represented, of Kleiststrasse. One song, 'Hariu', sung to new bonds between us.' with the names of architectural historian at celebrations, is out of character: The Jewish Co-chairman of the Polish Nikolaus Pevsner and the 'father of the Lewandowski writes mainly in harmonic Council of Christians and Jews declares: history of art' Ernst Gombrich among the genre and this song is very contrapuntal, 'I can understand the misgivings of foreign AAC's list. Noticeable by their absence in even finishing on a small fugue - so much visitors who are puzzled by the presence Jeremy Seabrook's study are any of the so that I suspect it was written by a pupil of Jewish themes in the absence of Jews. women refugee academics whom the of the master Nevertheless, the challenge we face is very AAC and SPSL assisted, often in As an historic package, this is precious, simple: we have a choice between oblivion conjunction with the Emergency Refugee fortunately saved by Schildberger and or remembrance. Can anyone have any Committee of the British Federation of produced by a large team of dedicated doubts about which is preferable?' University Women. Numerically these

10 AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009 were a very small proportion of the 2,541 second in Gaza. His detective is Omar who were registered with the SPSL at the Yussef, a Muslim Arab history teacher in r YOM HASHOAH n end of the war, but some attention could an UNWRA girls' school. Both novels, Rees SUNDAY 19 APRIL have been given to them. stressed, were based on fact and focused Unlike Jean Medawar and David Pyke's on Fatah-Hamas rivalries, with a lurking Yad Vashem UK is organising the study Hitler's Gift: Scientists who Fled Israeli presence in the background. His annual Yom Hashoah event at the Nazi Germany which concentrates on the third novel is claimed as fiction and brings Logan Hall, Institute of Education, achievements of famous emigre scientists in another protagonist, the Samaritan 20 Bedford Way, London WCl in a specific period, Jeremy Seabrook takes community of Nablus (the biblical The service begins at 11 am prompt and a much broader sweep in time, Shechem) and its high priest. will last approximately 90 minutes examining, in three sections described as The Samaritans, of whom fewer than Entrance is strictly by ticket only 'Then', 'Until' and 'Now', the experience 800 survive, are a sister religion to Judaism, Contact AJR Head Office on of forced migration, dislocation, re- living in Holon and, more importantly, on 020 8385 3070 . establishment as well as the contribution the slopes of Mount Gerizim. Mount that academic refugees have made to life Gerizim is the mountain of the blessing L in Britain from 1933 up to the present in Deuteronomy xxvii:12 and is claimed or at [email protected] I day. The 'fortress' of his title is a critique by the Samaritans as the place where of the restrictive - even draconian - Abraham bound Isaac, in opposition to 'CHURCHILL'S admissions policies faced by refugees and the mainstream Jewish claim that it was GERMAN ARMY' asylum-seekers who sought, and still seek, Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This one-hour doouiiientary will be a safe haven in Britain. He also draws In the novel, an ancient Torah scroll screened on National Geographic attention to the wider climate of hostility belonging to the sect is stolen and the Channel on 26 April. and racism faced by refugees, including dead body of a young Samaritan is found. It tells the story of the refugees from that fostered by the media. In contrast, Yussef investigates the crime, hindered by the 'refuge' is a more positive description Nazasm who fought for Britain in the the dysfunctional Arab society, in which Second World War. of a pre-war, war-time and post-war relationships are governed by the honour- Britain, where the persecuted have been, shame code: either one has one's foot on Of those interriewed, all are and continue to be, the recipients of the neck of one's rival - which is honour memben of the AJR, based on personal acts of kindness and of the - or one's rival has his foot on one's own Helen Fry's book FAe King's Most humanitarian efforts of the Quakers, neck - which is shame. Compromise is Loyal Enemy Aliens CARA and others, and where rules have unthinkable. No conflict can ever be been bent to help individual refugees. A properly resolved. Honour-shame societies particular strength of the book lies in the are violent and usually keyed into poverty. PfOHi VicHHa to lohdoH first-hand stories the author has collected, Yussef treads his way gingerly in the The Austrian Cultural Forum has hosted the for these are a poignant and personal murky tunnels of the Nablus kasbah, UK launch of Emigration ins Leben by AJR testimony to the reality of fleeing a between the various vendettas, corrupt member Eric Saunders. The audience homeland and the hostility often faced practices and financial deals. Eventually, included the Austrian Ambassador, Dr Helen by, in this case, academic refugees. as one might hope, he solves the crime. Fry and David Freud, as well as the book's Austrian publisher and its editor, Peter Jeremy Seabrook reminds us that Eva Hoffman's new novel is a totally Pirker, who had travelled over from Vienna. CARA's academic refugees have had, and different genre, and I mention it here Eric Sanders and Peter Pirker humorously continue to have, an enduring positive because some of the honour-shame provided insight into the book's story with intellectual and economic impact on vocabulary from Rees's book recurs. I comments on its photographs, which were Britain, the host country. He also reminds realised very early what was going on and projected onto a large screen. us that they are human beings who have what the outcome would be. The plot On Holocaust Memorial Day, AJR member Anne Pisker, a member of the famous fled their homes, families, jobs and concerns Isabel Merton, a renowned Vienna Hakoah swimming team and a star cultures because they feared for their concert pianist. She has an intense, of the 2004 film on the Hakoah swimmers lives. Fleeing persecution requires courage complicated and perhaps self-indulgent Watermark, addressed several hundred girls and tenacity and becoming an asylum- inner life involving her music. Her private at Wimbledon High School. On the same seeker in twenty-first-century Britain is not life is more difficult: she has recently day, Watermark was shown at the United a soft option, but a journey embarked dumped an apparently devoted husband. Nations in New York. The film was also upon in desperation. That academics are She is travelling from hotel to hotel on a shown at the Austrian Cultural Forum in willing to risk their lives in pursuit of European tour and reading a journal by London. intellectual freedom reminds us what a her old music teacher, Wolfe. Wolfe not precious commodity the latter is. only records his early impressions of her Susan Cohen but also of a young cellist, Jane Robbins, who trained with her and is less intense. WANTED TO BUY None of the European cities seems to Honour-shame code make much impression on Isabel, but she German and meets Anzor Islikhanov, a political exile THE SAMARITAN'S SECRET from Chechnya. English B€»oks by Matt Rees The plot is concerned with her London: Atlantic Books, 2009, 288 pp. relationship with Islikhanov, who seems Bookdealer, AJR member, hardcover to follow her around Europe. What is he? welcomes invitations to view and Who is he? The reader finds out at the ILLUMINATIONS purchase valuable books. end, while sharing in Isabel's emotional by Eva Hoffman crises, but, because I had read Rees's London: Han/ill Seeker, 2008, 266 pp. novel, I found out at the beginning. That hardcover is not to subtract from the emotional Robert Homung impact of Hoffman's novel or the att Rees was Time Magazine's 10 Mount View, Ealing Jerusalem bureau chief from 2000 sophisticated appeal of Rees's crime story. London W5 IPR until 2006 and he covered the Both are worth reading for entirely Email: hornungt>[email protected] M: different reasons. Middle East for over a decade. He set his Tel: 020 8998 0546 first thriller in intifada-torn Bethlehem, his Bryan Reuben

II Lisa Vincent of Nottingham writes: Cambridge: 'Jewish History in Britain' Having just returned from the Northern Four new members joined our group and will have been impressed by Susannah holiday in London, I would like to show Alexander's eloquent talk on 'Jewish History my appreciation to the AJR for the in Britain' from Disraeli to the present, wonderful few days we spent there. including migration, settlement and reli­ The itinerary was exceptional and I gious groupings. Keith Lawson can't praise the organisers enough - Next meeting: 23 April. Professor Richard especially Susanne Green, Esther Rinkoff *Due to the poor weather at the beginning Evans, 'The Third Reich' of February, three meetings - those at and Myrna Glass, who gave their loving care so freely to us 'golden oldies'. I Oxford, Ealing (inaugural), and llford - had Surrey: Old friends and new members shall treasure those memories for the to be cancelled. We met at the home of Edmee Barta in rest of my days and thank AJR for being Epsom. Over 20 members were present the family so many of us have lost. 'Wonderful few days in London' from all over Surrey, including new ones. We enjoyed the delicious refreshments Pinner learns how to really while we chatted with old friends and help the needy welcomed newer members. In an address on his experience of help­ Anne Woolf-Skinner ing people in Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere, Paul Anticoni emphasised how essential it was to live among the peoples in question to identify the best way of delivering aid. Now director with Bob and Gerry Norton at Belsize Square World Jewish Relief, Paul is involved Synagogue dinner with Jews in the former Soviet Union and n the first day of our three-day elderly Jewish refugees nearer home. OLondon trip, 30 of us 'provincials' Walter Weg were driven from our hotel in Finchley Road to the House of Lords, where our Norwich shmooze host. Lord Barnett, led us via Black Rod's Once again, we came together from all Presentation of the five Holocaust Memo­ Entrance, the back stairs and the lobbies corners of Norfolk for a shmooze, solving rial Books to the Imperial War Museum to the wonderful hall. Our visit was the world's problems while consuming the rounded off with a very creamy tea in North (IWMN) Learning and Access De­ goodies Myrna had carried all the way to partment. Pictured are speakers at the the Peers' tea room. the cathedral city, where they don't even event. Back, from left: Jim Forrester, Di­ The surprise of the day arrived in the know what a shmaltz herring is. rector, IWMN; Sue Kurlander; Dr John shape of Ian Austin, MP for Dudley Frank Bright Goldsmith, Liverpool; Pippa Landey, North, whose parents were in the group Leeds; Werner Lachs, Manchester; Maria and who had arranged a visit for us to HGS: Harnessing the spirit of Smith, Formal Learning Manager, IWMN; 10 Downing Street. There, we were resistance - the story of the Jews of Susanne Green. Front, from left: Deanna Van der Velde, Newcastle; Dorothy struck by the friendly reception of the Vilnius duty police and the Downing Street Fleming, Sheffield; Trude Silman, Leeds; A moving presentation on her recent trip staff. The highlight came when the Angella Carne, Manchester to Lithuania by Shivaun Woolfson, a PhD Browns' two little boys were brought student and herself of Lithuanian in to view these 'oldies' who had Brighton and Hove Sarid: extraction, focusing on four survivors now invaded their territory. Later, it was time Diversity of faith in their 80s-90s. Carmen Stevens for Carousel - most enjoyable. Next meeting: 6 April. Alan Bilgora, Rabbi Daniela Thau showed a film of The next day began with a tour of the 'Jewish Opera Singers' relevant places of worship and symbols, Foundling Museum, with insights into pointing out the similarities in the rituals the life of the poor at the time. There of most of the monotheistic religions. followed a walking tour in the East End, Cleve Road: 'My Famous Family' Ceska Abrahams with a guide who seemed to know what Next meeting: 20 April. Sidney Levine, Peter Suchet, brother was going on in every house in Fournier 'The Yorkshire Ripper' of TV journalist John Street and Brick Lane. Little time re­ Suchet and actor mained for the Wallace Collection, apart Weald of Kent: Israel's 'peace village' David Suchet, gave us from a few minutes in the special exhi­ Another well-attended meeting, with two insight into his famous bition of jewellery excavated in locations potential new members and a visit by the family. Their father. connected with the Black Death. mayor of Tunbridge Wells. Janet Naim Jack Suchet, born in The day was rounded off with a gave a most interesting talk about the South Africa, came to dinner at Belsize Square Synagogue, Neve Shalom 'peace village' between England in the 1930s where we were joined by 75 AJR Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Inge Ball to study medicine and assisted Alexander members from the London area. Peter Next meeting: 14 April. 'Safety in the Suchet, our fluent and interesting Fleming before becoming an eminent Community' speaker, threw an insider's light onto the gynaecologist. If Peter speaks to any background of his well-known family. other AJR group, don't miss him! Essex celebrates 7th anniversary On our final day in London, our trip David Lang Naomi Hyamson sang beautifully with Next meeting: 28 April, 10.30 am. ended at the Paul Balint AJR Centre, Harold Lester accompanying heron piano. Rochelle Hodds, 'The Anne Frank Trust' where we were made most welcome Special guests were Myrna, Hazel and and had a delicious lunch. There Helena, accompanied by Esther Rinkoff. followed a recital by Naomi Hyamson, Manchester: 'My Grandfather's Shtetl' No further meeting until May due to accompanied on the piano by Jenny Speaking on the theme 'My Grandfather's Pesach. Larry Lisner Gould, performing songs from Strauss, Shtetr and supported by a large collection Schubert and many others. Then tea of slides. Professor Howard Cuckle told us Radlett: Jewish opera singers and cakes were served - a great end to about the life, history and tragedy of Alan Bilgora played us wonderful a visit many of us will long people who lived in the Minsk area in what recordings by Jewish opera singers, a remember Thank you, AJR! is now Belarus. IVerner Lachs number of them from a cantorial background. Again, one must admire the Fred Austin and Bob Norton Next meeting: 10 May, at Morris Feinmann Home enormous contribution of Jewish artists to

12 A)R JOURNAL APRIL 2009

European culture in the last century. Edgware: Code-breaking at Fritz Starer Bletchley Paul Balint AJR Centre Next meeting: 22 April. Suzanne Lewis, Ruth Bourne told us that many of the 15 Cleve Road, London NW6 'The Ben Uri Gallery' 'experts' at Bletchley Park were former Tel: 020 7328 0208 German Jews - the messages they were Wembley CF: Meeting up with old decoding were of course in German. Ruth, friends herself a Wren when working there, PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE Good to meet old friends again at Harris explained the workings of the Enigma Court. After tea we split into smaller NO KT LUNCH OR LUNCHEON machine. Edgar H. Ring CLUB THIS MONTH groups to discuss our changing lives in Next meeting: 21 April. Stewart our part of the North London world. A Macintosh, 'From Broom Cupboard to DUE TO PESACH pleasant afternoon. No further meeting Bush House' until May due to Pesach. Laura Levy Monday, Wednesday & Thursday Pinner: Life of a journalist 9.30 am-3.30 pm Temple Fortune: The Holocaust A full house enjoyed Laurence Marks PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CENTRE IS Educational Trust describing his life as a journalist, comedy CLOSED ON TUESDAYS Anita Parmar told us that the HET was script writer and playwright. Many of his April Afternoon Entertainment established in 1988 and that since 1991 best known TV shows were written jointly Wed 1 Margaret Opdahl schools must teach their pupils at Key with his friend Maurice Gran. Interesting Thur 2 Roy Blass Stage 3 about the Holocaust and take two revelation: Laurence owns a watch that Mon 6 Kards & Games Klub once belonged to von Ribbentrop, who older pupils from each school to Auschwitz Tue 7 CLOSED as part of the Lessons from Auschwitz lived in Pinner for a while! Wed 8 CLOSED - Pesach project. After a Q&A session we had a Paul Samet Thur 9 CLOSED - Pesach special tea to celebrate our group's first Next meeting: 2 April. Gillian Waine, Mon 13 CLOSED - Pesach birthday. David Lang Director, Anne Frank Trust Tue 14 CLOSED - Pesach Next meeting: 23 April. Alf Keiles, 'The Wed 15 CLOSED - Pesach Jewish Contribution to Jazz' Welwyn Garden City: Diversity of faith Thur 16 CLOSED - Pesach Rabbi Daniela Thau began with the first Mon 20 Kards & Games Klub Hendon: A history of recessions monotheistic religion - Zoroastrianism - Tue 21 CLOSED Roger Beales, from the Bank of England, and finished with the ninth - Ba'hai. She Wed 22 Jen Gould told us there have been five recessions concluded that members of all faiths can Thur 23 Arjan & Stefan Mon 27 Kards 8i Games Klub since the War and that the bank rate is work together locally on aims common to Tue 28 CLOSED now the lowest ever Nobody knows when all, demonstrating that underlying the Wed 29 Katinka Seiner the present recession will end, he said. diversity of faiths there is unity in the Thur 30 Mark Rosen Annette Saville essentials they all worship. Fred Simms Next meeting: 27 April. David Lawson on his work with neglected Romanian 'Nice Nazis' North London: Life of an audiologist orphans. Herbert Haberberg Our well attended meeting enjoyed a talk Next meeting: 30 April. Roger Beales, 'The Bank of England' AJR GROUP CONTACTS by Robert Beiny on his work as an audiologist, helping people with hearing Pioneer Corps Veterans: A meeting Bradford Continental Friends deficiencies, and - equally interesting - Lilly and Albert Waxman 01274 581189 not to be forgotten Brighton & Hove (Sussex Region) This gathering of ex-members of the Fausta Shelton 01273 734 648 Liverpool Pioneer Corps at the Cafe Imperial in Bristol/Bath Susanne Green 0151 291 5734 Golders Green was a meeting not to be Kitty Balint-Kurti 0117 973 1150 Manchester forgotten. Author Helen Fry was there to Cambridge Werner Lachs 0161 773 4091 greet us; a film crew marked the special Anne Bender 01223 276 999 Newcastle occasion; Esther Rinkoff made everyone Cardiff Walter Knoblauch 0191 2855339 welcome. Willie Fields and Ken Ward, who Myrna Glass 020 8385 3077 Norfolk (Norwich) had left the PC immediately they were Cleve Road, AJR Centre Myrna Glass 020 8385 3077 accepted to join fighting units because Myrna Glass 020 8385 3077 North London they had wanted actively to participate in Dundee Jenny Zundel 020 8882 4033 defeating the Nazis, exchanged Susanne Green 0151 291 5734 Oxford reminiscences. Ken Ward East Midlands (Nottingham) Susie Bates 01235 526 702 Bob Norton 01159 212 494 Pinner (HA Postal District) ALSO MEETING Edgware Vera Gellman 020 8866 4833 llford 1 April. Alan Cohen, 'Biblical Ruth Urban 020 8931 2542 Radlett Heroines in Art and Music' Edinburgh Esther Rinkoff 020 8385 3077 Fran^oise Robertson 0131 337 3406 Sheffield Ealing 7 April. Andrea Cameron, 'The Essex (Westcliff) Steve Mendelsson 0114 2630666 Story of the Pears Family' Larry Lisner 01702 300812 South London Glasgow Lore Robinson 020 8670 7926 Claire Singerman 0141 649 4620 South West Midlands (Worcester area) Hazel Beiny, Southern Groups Co-ordinator Harrogate Myrna Glass 020 8385 3070 020 8385 3070 Inge Little 01423 886254 Surrey Myrna Glass, London South and Midlands Groups Co-ordlnator Hendon Edmee Barta 01372 727 412 020 8385 3077 Hazel Beiny 020 8385 3070 Temple Fortune Susanne Green, Northern Groups Co-ordinator Hertfordshire Esther Rinkoff 020 8385 3077 0151 291 5734 Hazel Beiny 020 8385 3070 Weald of Kent Max and Jane Dickson Susan Harrod, Groups' Administrator HGS 020 8385 3070 Gerda Torrence 020 8883 9425 01892 541026 Esther Rinkoff, Southern Region Co-ordinator Wembley Hull 020 8385 3077 Susanne Green 0151 291 5734 Laura Levy 020 8904 5527 KT-AJR (Kindertransport) Wessex (Bournemouth) llford Andrea Goodmaker 020 8385 3070 Meta Rosenell 020 8505 0063 Mark Goldfinger 01202 552 434 Child Survivors Association-AJR West Midlands (Birmingham) Leeds HSFA Henri Obstfeld 020 8954 5298 Trude Silman 0113 2251628 Ernest Aris 0121 353 1437

13 AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009

FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS AJR OUTING TO THE AJR HOLIDAY Deaths MEMORIAL DE LA SHOAH, PARIS IN EASTBOURNE Irene Retford (nee Schauer), born Wednesday 9 September 2009 The AJR are doing another holiday We are delighied lo oilfi an oppoiiuiiity to Hamburg, died 23 February 2009, aged 87. in the Lansdowne Hotel visit the Memorial de la Shoah, the HolocaiLst Always loved and admired and missed by in Eastbourne Museum in Paris. The Memorial, the largest her sister and family. Holocaust-related institution in Europe, FRIDAY 17 JULY to FRIDAY 24 JULY Irene Retford (n6e Schauer), wife ofthe comprises a Museum, an Archive Centre and £420 per week plus £40 per week late Henry Retford, died suddenly but an Education and Training Centre. single room supplement We will leave St Pancras at approx 8.30 am, peacefully at the Wellington North Hospital. to include transport from Cleve returning that evening at approx 6.30 Road, lunch on outward journey, She will be very much missed by all her pm. Included in the price are retum train half-board, outings and friends. travel by Eurostar and transfer by coach to entertainment and from the Gare du Nord to the Memorial. Book early to avoid Paul Balint AJR Centre The cost will be aroimd £75.00 but this is Pamela Bloch Clothes sale, separates etc. dependent on train availability. Bookings and disappointment Wednesday 22 April 2009, 9.30-11.45 am full payment must be received by Tuesday 12 Please contact Carol Rossen or May 2009. Lorna Moss on 020 8385 3070 /r Please caU Susan Harrod on 020 8385 3070 ^ HOLIDAY FOR ^ for further details. NORTHERN MEMBERS AIR TRIP TO ISRAEL OCTOBER 2009 Sunday 12 luly 2009 - DID YOU ARRIVE FROM Oates to be confirmed Sunday 19 luly 2009 GDYNIA ON THE WARSZAWA We will be flying with El Al from Heathrow. INN ON THE PROM ON 29 AUGUST 1939? Alternative arrangements can be made for (formerly bnown as members living outside London. We are looking for Kinder who arrived at THE FERNLEA HOTEL) We will be staying at the Ramat Rochel Hotel London Docks on 29 August 1939, the 11/17 South Promenade. St Annes in lerusalenn. The hotel is set in beautiful day of the last sailing of the Tel 01253 726 726 grounds with indoor and outdoor pools open Warszawa from Gdynia. The cost, including all year round as well as a leisure club. There A national paper is considering a special will be a full itinerary but also free time to see Dinner. Bed and Breakfast, feature to commemorate the arrival. is E5S0 per person family and friends. The hotel charges a supplement For further details, please contact Andrea Goodmaker on 020 8385 3070 The price, in the region of £1,300, will cover per room for sea view or return flights, transfers in Israel, half-board deluxe room accommodation, and all excursions with a Boob early to avoid OUTING TO BETH SHALOM professional guide. disappointment HOLOCAUST MEMORLVL For further details please contact Booking form - contact Carol Rossen or Lorna Moss Ruth Finestone on CENTRE on 020 8385 3070 V 020 8385 3070 - 07957 665468 j, LAXTON, NOTTS Sunday 21 June 2009 03 per person including coach fare, LEO BAECK HOUSING entrance, vegetarian buffet lunch Coach will leave AJR ofllces in Merrion ASSOCIATION SPRING GROVE Avenue, Stanmore at 8.43 am CLARA NEHAB HOUSE (plenty of parking available in car park) RESIDENTIAL CARE HOME (\ RETIREMENT HOME Booking essential Small caring residential home with 214 Finchley Road T©> Please telephone 020 8385 3070 large attractive gardens close to local 6 London NWS shops and public transport London's Most Luxurious 25 single rooms with full en suite facilities -,. Entertainment - Activities iJ)otot^ Home Care 24 hour Permanent and Respite Care *" • Stress Free Living Care through quality and Entertainment & Activities provided • 24 House Staffing Excellent Cuisine professionalism Ground Floor Lounge and • Full En-Suite Facilities Celebrating our 25th Anniversary Dining Room Call for more information 25 years of experience in providing the Lift access to all floors. highest standards of care in the comfort For further information pleax contact: or a personal tour of vour own home The Manager, Clara Nehab House 020 8446 2117 13-19 Leeside Crescent, or 020 7794 4455 London NWll ODA [email protected] Telephone: 020 8455 2286 FillsLrCare ACACIA LODGE QunlitN' support and care at home 1 hour to 24 hours care Mrs Pringsheim, S.R.N. Matron Registered through the National Care Standard Commission For Elderly, Retired and Convalescent Hourly Care from 1 hour - 24 hours (Licensed by Borough ol Barnel) Call our 24 hour tel 020 7794 9323 Live-In/Night Duty/Sleepover Care ' Single and Double Rooms. www.colvin-nursing.co.uk Convalescent and Personal Health Care • Ensuite facilities, CH in all rooms. * Gardens, TV and reading rooms. Compassionate and Affordable Service * Nurse on duty 24 hours. Professional, Qualified, Kind Care Staff SWITCH ON ELECTRICS * Long and short term and respite, including trial period if required. Registered with the CSCI and UKHCA Rewires and all household Between £400 and £500 per week electrical work ihone 08tH) 028 4(-I4D 020 8445 1244/020 8446 2820 office hours PHONE PAUL: 020 8200 3518 020 8455 1335 other times 37-39 Torrington Park, North Finchley Mobile: 0795 614 8566 Ch.iicot Road, NVVl «LH London N12 9TB

14 AJR JOURNAL APRIL 2009

Why should we remember? Reuniting families: Tf/£ QSNocm iN ^mmf\ The DNA Shoah Project

tudents from Hampton School, in the world, which can be submitted through unique project is underway in Tucson, southwest London, have decided to http://www.whyshouldweremember.org Arizona, aiming to reunite families mark the 15th anniversary of the To enhance the impact of the project even A torn apart by the Holocaust. The SRwandan genocide in April 2009 with a further, the pupils are approaching DNA Shoah Project is a non-profit, unique remembrance project. companies to donate a penny for every humanitarian effort at the University of After leaming about the terrible events response collected. The money raised will Arizona. It works to build a global genetic of 1994, the pupils were eager to make sure sponsor orphans of the genocide through database of Holocaust survivors, their they did something to help the world school and university. remember and reflect on what happened in The project will result in a sequel to the children and grandchildren in an attempt to Rwanda. They therefore devised a project short book published by the students in 2008 match displaced relatives; provide Shoah which asks people to respond to the question which included interviews with genocide orphans with information about their 'Why should we remember the genocide that survivors and reflections from over 50 biological families; and eventually, when the claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 personalities in the UK, ranging from former database has reached sufficient size, assist Tutsi and moderate Hutu Rwandans in 100 Prime Minister Tony Blair to London European governments with the days of killing in 2004?' Mayor Boris Johnson. Proceeds from the sale identification of Holocaust-era remains that The students aim to collect as many of the book are being donated to the continue to surface. Survivors' Fund (SURF), which aids victims responses as possible. The target is 8,000 The project is the brainchild of of the genocide in Rwanda. responses, one for every hundred victims of entrepreneur and philanthropist Syd the genocide. The responses will be The students hope to disseminate their Mandelbaum, a scientist by trade and the exhibited at the Rwanda Memorial and project as widely as possible and believe child of Holocaust survivors. Further inquiry Genocide Centre in Kamonyi, demonstrating that even if just one person thinks about the solidarity of the world's people with the and remembers what happened in Rwanda resulted in a partnership with Dr Michael survivors of the genocide and remembrance in 1994, then they will have made a Hammer, a renowned geneticist at the of the victims. The students are appealing difference. University of Arizona who has a for the personal responses of people across Andy Lawrence background in Jewish population genetics. The collection of a genetic sample Recording history for the youngsters of tomorrow involves a simple, painless cheek swab and the necessary equipment and forms will be www.britishlocalhistory.com, a website •Double click the green icon TELL YOUR sent out to anyone who requests them, free launched last year, is dedicated to recording STORY of charge. Participants' information is held history, especially oral testimonies. It has a •At the top of this page you will see a thick in the strictest confidence; the DNA Shoah special Jewish section that actively green line encourages Jewish refugees and Holocaust • Immediately under this, right of centre you Project will not conduct any research on survivors to record their experiences and will see ADD YOUR STORY (grey) double genetic samples and contributors' stories as well as those of the families they click information will not be shared with any lost in the concentration camps. •Now start vmting outside entity or organisation. The AJR now has its own entry in the • When finished, double click the grey SAVE 'wiki' (encyclopedia) of the website. You can button underneath and to the left of your work For further details see www.dnashoah.org upload your story free of charge directly •Your work is now saved. Lynn Davis onto the site using the guidelines below. You are free to add as much or as little materia! as you wish. The project is ongoing: it is ARTS AND EVENTS DIARY APRin009 hoped that people will continue to add their stories and that it will become the largest Until 10 May Treasures of the Black Death Gold and silver jewellery found Mon 20 YOM HASHOAH: AN such repository for testimonies online. at Colmar in the nineteenth century EVENING OF COMMEMORATION Whether you have memories as a child and at Erfurt in the 1990s. The jewellery This year's focus: The 80th Anniver­ sary of the birth of Anne Frank. during the Holocaust and the war, or you was buried at the time of the Black Speakers: Dr Eva Schloss, Auschwitz were a veteran who served in the British Death in the mid-14th century, almost survivor, stepsister of Anne Frank; certainly by Jewish families. At Wallace forces, or were in hiding, or were part of the Rabbi David Soetendorp, Founder Kindertransport, or are a child of a Collection, London Wl, tel 020 7563 Chairman, Anne Frank Trust UK, Holocaust survivor (the 'second generation'), 9500 close connection to Otto Frank in we would like to hear your story. Through post-war Holland; Dr Stephen Smith you, the youngsters of tomorrow will leam Wed 1 Dr Winfried Garscha, 'An MBE, Chairman, UK Holocaust of the horrors of yesterday. Attempt at Justice: New Research on Memorial Day Trust. At Pinner Syna­ National Socialist Trials in Austria gogue, 1 Cecil Park, Pinner, 8-10 pm James Hamilton after 1945' At Wiener Library, 7.00 pm. Jatnes Hamilton is co-author, with Helen Fry Wiener Library/Austrian Embassy joint (pseudonym J. H. Schryer), of two historical Mon 20 Hans Seelig, 'Musical Anni­ lecture. Tel 020 7636 7247 or email versaries of 2008 We Missed' Club 43 novels, tlie first of which. Goodnight Vienna, [email protected] is due out in June this year. Mon 27 HE The Austrian Ambassa­ Mon 6 Gerald Holm, 'The Surplus dor, Frau Matzner-Holzer, 'The End The process to upload material is as follows: Women' Club 43 of the Cold War: 20 Years After - An • Double click on the Internet Explorer icon Austrian Perspective' Club 43 • Type in www.britishlocalhistory.com at Mon 13 No lecture (Bank Holiday) Mon 4 May No lecture (Bank Holiday) top of page Club 43 •This takes you to our website Club 43

IS AJRpURNAL APRIL 2009

Newsround LETTER FROM ISRAEL 'The most dramatic assemblage of brains ever held under one roof In February 1939, some of Europe's most outstanding scientists who had fled the Nazi threat joined with hundreds of their /\ friend and mentor British colleagues at a party to raise money for the refugees. The meeting - he following paragraph in a review as a social worker, worked in that capacity described, according to a report in the of the book My Father's Paradise: for the Jewish Blind Society, of which my Daily Telegraph, as the 'most dramatic assemblage of brains ever held under one TA Son's Search For His Jewish Past late father, Manfred Vanson, was secretary. roof - took place at the headquarters of in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar, on the Chaim Rabin had a very distinguished the Royal Society in Burlington House in internet site of the San Diego Jewish World, career as Professor of Semitic Languages at London. No record of the meeting was kept: fearful of reprisals against relatives made me jimip: Oxford University and later at the Hebrew left behind, many of the foreign scientists It was his Hebrew History teacher, Professor University of Jemsalem. He was a brilliant declined to be named. Now, on the 70th Chaim Rabin, who lit the spark to study his man, with an extensive knowledge of ancient anniversary of this 'secret party', anyone who has information about guests who own ancient tongue, Aramaic. There were and modem languages. He once told me that many ancient texts that up until that point were present that day is asked to contact were never deciphered for lack of knowledge the way he learned any new foreign the Royal Society at 6-9 Carlton House of the language. Rabin encouraged Sabar to language was simply to pick up a detective Terrace, London SWIY SAG. study Hebrew and Aramaic side by side and novel in that language and read it. He was Holocaust teaching in the UK see how one linked to another. also instrumental in establishing the Israel confirmed by Government The book describes the history of the Translators' Association, as well as the minister Jewish community of Kurdistan, the concept of translation studies as an Following concerns raised after the publication of the 'Teaching Emotive and experiences of the author's father, Yona, as academic subject. Controversial History 3-19' Report by the a youngster growing up in Kurdistan, the But above all, Chaim was a kind person Historical Association as well as a review family's immigration to Israel soon after the who never put on the airs and graces or of the National Curriculum, Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools establishment of the State of Israel, and professorial demeanour that are sometimes and Families, has refuted claims that the Yona's determination to attend university adopted by persons who have failed to Holocaust has been removed from the despite the difficulties encountered by achieve even half the distinction that he National Curriculum. He has also announced renewed Government funding Sephardi immigrants at that time. The acquired. It was always interesting to talk for the Holocaust Educational Trust's author, who grew up in California, was to him, though he never tried to impress 'Lessons from Auschwitz' project, which estranged from his father for many years, his interlocutor by displaying erudite includes a one-day visit to the former primarily because of the cultural gulf knowledge. He loved to tell a good joke, concentration camp of Auschwitz- Birkenau for students engaged in post-16 between them. However, a chance encounter especially if it had a linguistic twist, and I education. triggered his interest in the history of his still remember the one about the French Polish Government seeks funding father and the Jewish community of professor of linguistics who complained for repair of death camp site Kurdistan, and this helped him to overcome about the sad, harsh cadences of Hebrew Poland's government has asked the the gulf. but noted that there was only one word European Union for help in maintaining All very interesting and worthwhile, but with a happy sound: 'umlala' - meaning the site of the former concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, which has fallen what interested me was the reference to miserable. into disrepair. Polish PM Donald Tusk sent Chaim Rabin, who died in 1996 aged 79. A few days after reading the book review a letter to leaders of EU countries asking Chaim was a friend and mentor to me and I attended a meeting of the Jerusalem them to create a special fund for the benefit of the museum, which requires as my family for many years. In fact, when I Translators' Association. The guest lecturer much as US$ 160 million to cover moved to Israel, in 1964, to study and work was a specialist in preparing indices for maintenance costs. at the Hebrew University, Chaim and his academic books who had studied ancient Birthday of great Yiddish writer wife Batya were among the first to invite languages. I happened to mention the fact celebrated in Ukraine me to their home for a meal on a Friday night that Chaim Rabin's name had cropped up Some 50 young activists from the Jewish or Shabbat. In fact, my family's association in far-off San Diego and, when I described community of Kiev have celebrated the 150th birthday of the Ukrainian Yiddish with Batya, nee Emmanuel, goes back to the paragraph quoted above, she said 'You humorous writer Sholem Aleichem in his Hamburg, Germany, where her parents and must be talking about Yona Sabar.' The hometown of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky. The my grandparents lived near one another. But world of Jewish scholarship is both wide- trip was sponsored by Limmud Former that's another story. Our paths crossed ranging and intimate, it seems. Soviet Union, which organises Jewish edu­ cational events in Eastern Europe and Israel again in London, when Batya, who qualified Dorothea Shefer-Vanson and has chosen Sholem Aleichem as the central theme for its events this year.

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