My husband Jack was born on December 3, 1928 in Bircza, Poland. In Spring 1942 he was taken to a work camp in Przemyśl, Poland. From there he went through Rzeszów, Oranienburg and Herman Goering Werke and several transition camps until he was finally liberated on 2nd May, 1945.

He was brought to England near the end of 1945 and stayed in Winchester for a few months. Then, Jack went to Northampton. In the summer of 1947, he went to London where he lived with about three different families. Jack finally moved to the US in 1949 and eventually became a builder.

Jack’s granddaughter, Orly Rubinfeld, helped design the square. The square represents Jack’s family tree. I have chosen Bircza as the roots of the tree where Jack was born and where his family lived. To pay tribute to and to remember Jack’s immediate family, his parents’ names appear at the top of the tree, and each sibling appears in a tree’s branch.

Rivka Rubinfeld

Our beloved Zeide was absolutely adored by each and every one of his grandchildren. His care and concern for each was indeed rare. Where would one find a grandfather who knew exactly what each of his grandsons was learning in cheder?! Where would one find a grandfather who would seriously review each one of his grand-daughter’s tests – and reward them accordingly?!
Indeed Zeidy was a grandfather who lived for his grandchildren. But his “grandfatherly” duties did not end with his grandchildren. Reb Yisroel was the Zeide of the street. Upon seeing Zeidy the little children would stretch out their little hands, waiting for the goodies that Zeidy so lovingly doled out.

The little boys in the streets were enquired about their studies too, and yet again, the little bag of goodies would reappear again, much to the delight of the little kinderlech.Zeidy dear – it’s not only us grandchildren who miss you dearly, it is all the Kinderlech who came into contact with you, they miss you too!

Thea Rudzinski

Our mother was born on 23 January 1934 in Radom, Poland. She was smuggled out of the Radom ghetto in July 1942 and taken into hiding. First in the countryside and then moved back to Warsaw where she remained hidden till March 1945. She was brought to Israel October of that year where she stayed on Kibbutz Gan Shmuel till 1948. She then served in the army and latterly studied at the old Hebrew university. In 1956 she came to London to study. She married David Schwarzmann in 1960 and remained in London. She has 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

The square represents the miracle of her survival particularly through her grandchildren who bring her so much happiness, nachos and pride.

Shelly Simons

Our father Jack Zisha Schwimmer was born on 5 April 1928 in Stróżowska, a small village about 2 kilometres from the town of Gorlice, Poland. During the 2nd World War he spent three years being interned in six different camps, including Buchenwald. He ended up in Theresienstadt where he was finally liberated. He was then brought to England and started a new life. He worked as a tailor, salesperson and a manager and eventually became a husband and father.
The square represents something of his life and we have chosen these subjects because of his love of Judaism, old musicals and his later interest in Arsenal. He also looked after his family and home immaculately.

Gary Schwimmer

Born Jehoszua Cygelfarb in Lodz on 24 December 1926 to Avrom Kalman, a self-employed painter and decorator and Pessa, Josh had 3 sisters, Sarah, Rachel and Mindy and a brother, Wovek. In September 1939, the Germans moved into Lodz so the family went to the ghetto in Piotrkow Trybunalski.

At 15, Josh and Wovek 19, worked in the Hortensia glass factory in Piotrkow. They were separated from their family, never to be seen again. As they headed by train toward a labour camp, a worker found a piece of paper dropped by Josh’s father. He wrote that the brothers should take care each other and fight for their lives. On November 25 1944, Joshua and Wovek arrived at Czestochowa labour camp and stayed until January 17 1945. They were then taken from Buchenwald to Nordhausen. Each day, prisoners were taken to Dora Mittelbau, a large underground factory for manufacturing bombs and rockets. Josh worked in the staff kitchen where the officers ate and was able to supply extra food for his brother.

After the war, Josh ended up in Prague, looking for family. Wovek disappeared, feared dead. Josh registered at a Jewish orphanage and was brought to Alton in England where he lived in Overbury Court hostel. He was taught to work with wrought iron and then moved to Bedford, where he was an apprentice mechanic for Rolls-Royce automobiles. An uncle from Nottingham found him and gave him names of relatives in Canada and Paris. He contacted his aunt in Paris, who told him that Wovek was living there with her.Joshua made his way to Canada, arriving in Halifax on the Ascentia on 27 December 1947 with 700 war brides. He became a greeter for the Hebrew Aid Society for Holocaust survivors and brought Wovek and his wife over from Paris. Joshua married his beloved wife, Malka Rae, in 1953. Founding members of the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda conservative synagogue in Toronto, he is still a member. They had 4 children, Keith, Lloyd, Paul and Sharon.

Joshua was owner and president of Paris Sportswear. Sadly, he lost Wovek in 1993 and Malka in 2012. Today he has nachos from his children, 9 grandchildren Beth (spouse Sean), Sean, Jaime, Jeffrey, Brian (spouse Samanatha), Samantha, Brandon, Nicole and Amanda, and 2 great grandchildren Tyler, Zachary and one on the way. Josh said, “What happened to us cannot be buried.”

Sharon Segal

Our dear father Leon Rosenberg was born just outside of Ostrowiec, Poland, on 15th May 1927. In 1940, when he was 12, he and his family were forced to live in the Ostrowiec ghetto and shortly after, they were all transported to concentration camps at Buchenwald and then Treblinka. During 1942, he and his family were taken to Auschwitz, where he witnessed the murder of his own father. Leon was eventually liberated by the Russian army in Jan 1945 and then when he was 18, he was taken to Windermere in England. There he was taught to read, speak and write English and he was also trained to design and make furniture. He spent most of his working life in the furniture industry in London. He married Vicky Jacobson in May 1948 and they had two sons, Alan and Max. Leon sadly died in November 2007 aged 80 but just before he passed away, he told his sons that he was a lucky man and had been blessed with an extra 65 years of life. He never expected to survive Auschwitz death camp.

The rose represents the ecstasy and agony of life and also links to the name Rosenberg, which means ‘mountain of roses’. The blue sky represents a world full of light, free of clouds and free from darkness. The rainbow is a symbol of hope and optimism for the future. The butterflies at each end of the rainbow represent Israel and Britain. Leon was eternally grateful to the Government and good people of Britain who offered the survivors the unique gift of a second chance at life. Likewise he was so happy when the state of Israel was established in 1948 as a home for Jewish people.

Leon loved to travel and particularly by aeroplane as this was the ultimate feeling of freedom. For five years of his life, 1940 to 1945, he never saw a single flower and so loved gardening and growing flowers. Fishing was a favourite hobby and he especially enjoyed catching pike and carp for making gefilte fish.

Max Rosenberg

Leo Robeson

Laib Rozensztrauch was born on 27th February 1924 in Lodz, Poland, into a close knit family. He had an older brother Abraham, an older sister Sura and younger sister Raca Gita. Miraculously he survived both the ghetto and Auschwitz, where he was sent in August 1944 and liberated by Russian troops on 27th January 1945. Like many survivors, he returned to his former home, now occupied by a local family, only to have the door slammed in his face.He ended up in a displaced persons camp in Cremona, Italy. His name was seen on a list by an uncle from London who arranged for him to come to England. He worked for his uncle, changed his name to Leo Robeson and married my mother in 1956.
The square has been designed with my daughter Talia and represents his family and legacy. My father immersed himself in his work as a rag merchant and devoted himself to his family, rarely opening up and talking of his life before and during the war. It was too painful and traumatic.
My father died in 1994 and around 10 years later, my sister Suzanne began investigating whether any family records had survived in Poland. To her great surprise, she discovered Abraham, who had gone to Russia in 1939 to find a safe place for the family, had also survived the war. He returned home from a Russian labour camp in 1946 and was greeted with the same door being slammed in his face. Neither Abraham, who died in 1989, nor my father realised the other had survived, but Abraham’s three children and their families meet with our family each year. How their lives would have been different had they been reunited!

Geoffrey Robeson

I was born in Berlin on August 1942 and was deported to Theresienstadt in June 1943 where I remained until liberation on 3rd May 1945. My mother died there of TB in 1944. My father had already been deported to Auschwitz. I arrived in England as one of the girls on 15th August 1945 with ‘The Boys’. After spending time at Bulldogs Bank and Weir Courtney I was adopted by a London based Jewish couple. I married a Jewish man and began a new life.

The square represents myself as a young girl alone arriving in a strange country. The bluebells remind me of the first spring in England where there were carpets of bluebells. It was such an amazing sight and the smell was overwhelming. The rainbow signifies a new start in life.

My mother, Roma Barnes (maiden name Rozenman), was born March 15, 1930 in Demblin, Poland. This square includes a recent photo of her and a photo of her when she was in the Windermere hostel in 1945. The photo above Roma is of her mother. Roma’s parents Chaya and Benjamin and brother Sevek perished at the Sobibor death camp. Roma was liberated in a labour camp in Czestochowa, Poland in January 1945.While living in England as part of the program run by the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (aka “The Boys”), Roma met and married Burton Barnes, who was serving in the U.S. Army. They divorced many years later. They had four children who all grew up in the U.S. The youngest Mark, of blessed memory, had Down’s Syndrome and died in 2011. The quilt includes photos of her beloved children and six grandchildren on the Trees of Life. The menorah represents her roots as well as her Jewish community and synagogue which have given her strength and a connection to her parents and her heritage. The photo on the table is of Roma’s brave aunt Eva, Chaya’s younger sister, who rescued the menorah and gave it to Roma after the war. Roma is forever grateful to have been a UK citizen after being stateless, and today she is very proud to be a U.S. citizen.

Roma was a talented seamstress and gardener. She loved reading, traveling and listening to music. In her younger days she enjoyed bridge. The drawing of the flaming rose represents the loss of Roma’s family’s beauty. It is also a play on words since Roma’s maiden name was Rozenman. Also included is a drawing I found in the Windermere hostel autograph booklet by one of “The Boys.” I liked its whimsical feeling. I tried to include in the quilt what is most representative about Roma’s life. Her family means everything to her. She enjoys many special memories of England and being part of The Boys. Her Windermere and Manchester hostel friends and teachers gave her unconditional love so she could get a new start on life. Her preschool training classes through the hostel programs gave her the experience to lovingly take care of and raise her own children as well as to become a cherished caregiver for children when she was older.

Helen Schwartz

My husband, Charles Shane, Chaim Szlamberg, was born on 21st Dec 1927 in Lodz Poland. He came from a happy childhood until the war and together with his family he moved to the Warsaw ghetto. In 1940 he was sent to Kielce-Hasag, a hard labour camp. From there he went to Buchenwald and then to Theresienstadt where he was liberated in May 1945. He lost his parents, his three brothers and sisters and many aunts and uncles. He was alone.

He was brought to England in August 1945 and was looked after in Windermere for about 6 months and then he made a new life in London. He worked hard and became a button dyer. In 1948 he joined the Israeli army and fought for Israel. When he came back to England, someone he knew told him about a brother of his had survived the camps and was living in Israel.

I met Charlie in Manchester at the 45 Aid club in 1947 when I was 16. I thought he was wonderful because of his lovely nature. We courted for 2 years and then married on 24th December 1950. Slowly followed two beautiful sons, Michael and Elton, making a lovely family. Michael met and married Linda, Elton married Caron then Susan. Later four lovely grandchildren arrived, Daniel, Katie, Samantha and Georgia. Charles left us on October 29th 2009.

Anita Shane

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