The Boys were teenage and child-Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after the war for rest and rehabilitation.
The Boys had survived the Holocaust as slave labourers in the Nazi concentration camp system, in hiding and by living alone.
After arrival in the UK, members of the Boys spent time in the reception centres before being moved to children’s homes known as hostels. Others were sent direct to boarding school or yeshivas, and those who were sick spent time in sanatoriums.
Some of the members of the Boys were lucky enough to find relatives or were taken in by foster families but the majority were moved to hostels.
Belsize Park was one of these hostels.
Overview
The hostel opened in the summer of 1946, in a large white Victorian semi-detached house in the neighbourhood of Belsize Park, north-west London. The property is now divided into flats.
Many of the Boys spent time here.
The hostel was above the Primrose Jewish Youth Club, a club run by Yogi Mayer, a German Jewish youth leader who had escaped to Britain before the war. The club was established in summer 1947, as a way to encourage Jewish boys and girls to meet, an important step for the Boys to further integrate into life in Britain.
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