Jacob Glicksohn (Glikson) was born in Czestochowa, Poland, on May 8th 1927. He used to say that because of the war, he became a man before and without having a Bar Mitzvah. During the years in the ghetto he managed to escape from selections to the death camp Treblinka three times. He was sent to Buchenwald and from there for the final solution to Theresienstadt where luckily he was liberated with the rest of ‘The Boys’.

The square has a drawing that Jacob drew during his recovery from typhus in Terezin. It resembles the desire to be strong and healthy like a lion, which can overcome the Nazi soldiers from his past. It also shows his personal number from Buchenwald, where he was told that his life was just a number, and his lucky numbers, eight and five, as his original birthday (8/5/27) and the day he was re-born (8/5/45).

In 1970, Jacob and his family left England and went to live in Israel. Jacob and his wife Margaret had two children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He lived to enjoy only his first grandson. Jacob passed away at the age of 59 and is buried in Israel.

Judy Glicksohn-Pasternak

Moniek was born May 5th 1928. Between 1942 and 1945 he was in the following camps: Shitzke/Szyczki, Kaushina/Kruszyn, Pionki, Auschwitz, Buna, Buchenwald, Theresienstadt and Krawinkel. I don’t know if this is the exact order.He is the sole survivor of his immediate family – his father, mother and three sisters. He was brought to England from Theresienstadt with the 732 Boys to Windermere, then to Loughton and then to Belsize Park. He found various employment until he left for Canada in 1948 and worked successfully in the manufacturing of ladies clothing.
The patch states where he was liberated, our immediate family and their children. His full name is Moshe Yosef Goldberg, always called Moniek.

Fay Goldberg

Our father Jan Goldberger was born in Bielsko Biala, Poland in 1927. He was liberated from Theresienstadt in 1945 when he came to the UK with a young group of holocaust survivors who became known as The Boys.

Our father met our mother Sara Goldberger (then Dzialowski) who is Israeli but was working in London and they married in 1968. Family has always been very important to our father, and from arriving in England as the sole surviving member of his family, he now has three grown up children and five grandchildren. All of the members of our family are on this quilt as leaves on a tree, illustrating how the family has grown and blossomed with our parents at the centre. We have also included the entrance to our parents’ family home where they have lived since 1971. This has been a hub of our family’s life for over forty years, and continues to be filled with life and laughter from the grandchildren.

Cilla, Danny and Ruti Goldberger

Sam (Szmul) Goldberg was born in Bendzin, Poland, on December 25th 1929 to Zvi and Ita Goldberg. He was brought up as a Ge’er Husid, and remained in the Bendzin ghetto until August 1943. He was then sent to 6 work camps and ended up in Thereisenstadt, where he was liberated by the Russians in May 1945.

In August 1945 he was sent to England, and from there to Glasgow, Scotland. In January 1948 he emigrated to Canada, and is still living in Toronto, where he is involved in the transportation business. He owns taxi cabs and has founded his own company.

Sam and Rae have been married since 1968, and have 3 children, Debbie, Sol and Esther, and 3 beautiful grand-daughters: Shayla, Odelya and Anna.

Rae and Sam Goldberg

Monty Graham – father to Kelvin, Lorraine, David and Helen – was born Motek Grzmot (13.09.1926 -18.06.2009) to shoemakers Kalma and Zlata, and eldest brother to Zelek and Benek in Sosnowiec, near Katowice, Poland (picture 1).

On 6th September 1942, just seven days before his Bar mitzvah, Motek, Zelek and their father were rounded up and sent to the nearby Modrzejow ghetto.

Following transportation from the ghetto to Auschwitz in 1943, Motek was never to see any of his family again. In January 1945, Motek was part of the ‘death marches’ in retreat from the advancing Russian army. Motek only survived when soldiers, arriving at Theresienstadt in May, heard him whimper as he lay half-unconscious among the dead bodies.

Following recovery from typhus in hospital, Motek finally headed to England by military plane where he began to learn English at the Windermere hostel (picture 2) and later how to ride a motorbike at Bedford! (picture 3)

Over the next seven years, Motek became Monty and met and married Millie in London 1952 (picture 4). Together, they started a new life in typewriter repairs and greengrocery. Helping to raise four children, Monty lived to also see the birth of four grandchildren “…and getting one back against Hitler”, as he was often heard to say.

Saved photos and chosen images of Monty’s early years set among the painted flower cut outs and glittering blue sky as symbols of “joy and happiness…”

Created by the grandchildren, Jonathan Kingsley, James Gordon, Danielle Gordon and Naomi Graham.

Henry was born in Strzemiesszyce, Poland, on 15th July 1928. After surviving the camps, he came to Windermere, England, in 1945. He later worked as a teacher and married Angela and had one son, David.

A much loved husband and father, he was never happier than when skiing or playing tennis. As a result he was one of the founding members of two tennis clubs, keenly believing that sport was a great meeting ground for people from differing backgrounds and beliefs. Firstly the Globe tennis club in Belsize Park, North London which became a second home for many people living nearby and then after moving to Dedham on the Essex Suffolk border he again founded a tennis club here, this time aiming at local families and again still very much a well used community amenity… hence the tennis clubs and balls on the quilt square as well as details of his small family. When younger his energy was palpable.

Angela Green

This square has been put together by Victor Greenberg and his family. It represents the family that he, together with his wife Tina, were able to create after he survived the Holocaust. The richness of the tapestry reflects the happy and full lives that the family have enjoyed together.

Victor was born on 27 August 1929 in a village called Majdan, which at the time was part of Czechoslovakia. He was taken to Auschwitz in May of 1944 with his mother, father, sister and two younger brothers. He was subsequently moved to camps at Mauthausen, Gusen and lastly Gunskirchen, where he was liberated in May 1945 by the US army. Only he and his sister survived from his immediate family.

After the war he was brought to the UK where, after serving in the Israeli army during the war of Independence, he finally settled. He married Tina in 1962 and they are the proud parents of three children and grandparents of nine grandchildren.

The four corners of the quilt are marked by symbols that reflect the most important features of Victor’s life, namely, life, Jewish Customs and Israel.

Tina, Alan, David and Naomi Greenberg

Mum was born in Vienna. She used to juggle as a child. I am not sure at what age but I assume it was after she arrived in the UK. One day she started playing with some tennis balls and it went from there. She always said she juggled because she liked the attention she got when she did it. She used to travel to music events around London or wherever there was a large crowd of people, and then she would find a ‘spot’ to stop and just start juggling while the music was playing. She used to tell us stories of how people would come up to her and take photos or videos. If they offered her money, she always refused it. I remember she said that once a policeman came over and wanted to have a go so she let him but he wasn’t very good. I think she found it enjoyable and fun and it also was great exercise.

She liked visiting stately homes and watching celebrity chat shows on TV. She liked to have an insight into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. She asked a lot of questions about people and liked to hear that people were doing well at school or work and especially if they passed important exams. She was very proud when my brother got his accountancy qualification because it meant he had “letters after his name”. The family threw a party for him on a boat that went along the Thames in Windsor and invited friends along. She liked to know her children and grandchildren were doing well. I think she saw it as an extension of her achievements.

She never talked about her experience in the camp but was still in touch with the people that brought her to the UK and those that survived with her. We used to meet up with some of them including those that went to live in Israel and Australia. Alice Goldberger was the person that first brought mum over along with the other children. Many of the children went on to live happy lives and got married and had children of their own. Mum considered them to be her family. My sister and I were bridesmaids for one of the other girls and she used to babysit for us when we were much younger.

Sue, Ann and David Cohen

Our darling father, Wolf (Johnny) Gutman was born in Lodz, Poland, on 23rd October 1927. He suffered in various concentration camps before being brought to England in 1945, where he started a new life.

In The East End of London he met his love Sylvia whom he married. They had 3 lovely daughters named Rosalind, Yvonne and Annette, whilst building his factory business making ladies coats and jackets.

Despite losing his father, mother, sister and brother in terrible ways, suffering horrific experiences, he still managed to survive and make a wonderful life.
This Quilt square represents his family, from the top, starting with a photo of himself, his parents and his wife. Then his daughters with their husbands, grandchildren with spouses and great grandchildren…. so far. Some of the many happy occasions shared together.

Annette Freeman

This image was from a photograph of Hugo, our father, as a boy, with his younger brother Gaby, mother Bella and father Geza. This image conveys a sense of the wonderful life the Grun family had before the world they knew was shattered. It is a place that we would like to have known – and should have known – had the war never happened. Our uncle Gaby was killed as soon as he entered Auschwitz, whilst Hugo and Geza survived several camps, only for Geza to die soon after liberation due to typhus and starvation. Bella managed to escape from a work party at a smaller labour camp and died from breast cancer in 1964. The Gruns were leading lights in their community in Berehovo in Czechoslovakia (then becoming part of Hungary and now part of the Ukraine), owning a profitable timber business, vineyards and interests in the famous Moser glass factory. Our father, Hugo, became a leading reform rabbi and was much loved as a broadcaster on national radio.

We second generation siblings Gaby Massey, Naomi Gryn, Rachelle Brettler and David Gryn and our third generation children – Adam and Clio Massey, Sadie Gryn, Joe and Zac Brettler, Isaac and Jacob Gryn – will always think of this corner of the world and this family as an intrinsic part of the fabric of our lives and chemistry, and something that still feels as if it’s missing from our present.

Gaby, Naomi, Rachelle and David