Author Archives: joel morris
Landmark historical archive telling the story of ‘The Boys’
A new online archive documenting the lives of ‘The Boys’ was launched by the Holocaust charity, the ’45 Aid Society, this month.
The ground-breaking project led by writer and journalist Rosie Whitehouse and ’45 Aid Society’s Vice Chairman, Philip Burton has revealed previously unrecorded information about the lives of this group of more than 700 orphans.
Journalist, writer and ’45 Aid Society’s Historical Advisor
The project, which took over a year to compile, involved extensive research which was undertaken by a group of voluntary researchers. These were actually the grandchildren of these survivors who due to the pandemic, had to work remotely holding with regular weekly Zoom meetings to discuss their findings.
Prior to the creation of this archive, information about this group was quite limited based mainly on what was contained in Sir Martin Gilbert’s 1996 book, ‘The Boys: Triumph over Adversity’ as well as memoirs of some of the Boys themselves.
Using records from archives across the world including the British Library and Imperial War Museum in the UK, as well as the Arolsen Archives in Germany, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in US, the USC Shoah Foundation and Yad Vashem in Israel, amongst others, the team were able to build a better picture about the early lives of their relatives.
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This new research has meant that more details have been discovered including how they arrived in the UK, where they stayed on arrival and who looked after them. A new interactive map has also been created to show their birthplaces.
One revelation from this research is that there were actually around 200 girls within the group, which is significantly more than had previously been thought and within the archive, a page has been created telling the personal stories of these girls.
Zac Greenberg, grandson of one of ;the Boys’, Victor Greenberg, was part of the team working on this project and feels that it shows that they were “more than just Holocaust survivors”.
“Their stories don’t end with the fact that the Holocaust happened. They created a family, established themselves in a country where they knew nobody and didn’t speak the language so ultimately, it’s a story of resilience and perseverance. I think it’s incredibly important to share that because people can learn from it.”
Chair of the ’45 Aid Society, Angela Cohen, and the daughter of Moshe Malenicky, one of the ‘The Boys’ told the EJN that she was “delighted” by the results of the archive after so many months of hard work by all involved.
The archive was launched at a two-day conference by the Association of Jewish Refugees earlier this month. A short film entitled ‘Introducing the Archive of the Boys’ was shown to explain the process of creating this online archive and those that were involved in this important initiative.
Angela hopes that the comprehensive online archive which is accessible through the ’45 Aid website, will become a valuable teaching resource for academics, educators, families and historians, as well as children, and will give an opportunity to learn more about what these ‘Boys’ suffered during the Holocaust “to ensure that it never happens again.”
Credit: Melissa Page
Duchess of Cambridge officially opens new Holocaust exhibit at Imperial War Museum
Kate saw the Generations: Portraits Of Holocaust Survivors exhibition which includes two photographic portraits she took last year to mark 75 years since the end of the Shoah.
The Duchess of Cambridge has been reunited with Holocaust survivors Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank at an exhibition of photographs of survivors and refugees – including two she took of the pair as part of a Jewish News project.
The future Queen chatted with the survivors at the Imperial War Museum, nearly two years after she photographed them to kick off an initiative to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Since then, a dozen leading photographers around the country have captured images of some of Britain’s last survivors, often alongside their children and grandchildren, for the exhibit.
The exhibition – designed to celebrate those who built new lives in the UK – was brought to life by a partnership between this newspaper, The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Royal Photographic Society, Dangoor Education and IWM, where it will remain until January when it will go on a national tour.
Among those Kate met was Yvonne and Steven, who she had previously described as two of the most “life-affirming people she’s ever met”. While Covid precautions meant she kept a one metre distance from most, she couldn’t help but hug a thrilled Steven. The 86-year-old survivor of several camps, who was photographed with his granddaughters Maggie and Trixie by the Duchess in the style of Vermeer, told Jewish News: “I’ve never been hugged by a future Queen before. She was so warm and, like two years ago, wanted to hear my story.”
Trixie, 15, added: “My grandpa tells his story in local schools but the Duchess being here means more people will know what happened. She was so cool.”
For a beaming Yvonne, who had been a hidden child in France and was accompanied by granddaughter Chloe, the reunion was the very first time she’d been out beside for basic food shopping since the start of the pandemic. She too received a kiss and a hug – before joking that the pandemic must have deprived her of the second royal kiss she received two years ago.
Olivia Marks-Woldman, CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “To come together across the generations to celebrate this wonderful project felt so special, particularly knowing the Maggie, Trixie and Chloe will be witnesses long after we’ve no longer here.”
They were introduced to Kate alongside Jewish News’ Justin Cohen, who conceived the project, and Michael Dangoor, of exhibition sponsors Dangoor Education. He said: “It’s so wonderful how the Duchess is so hands on. She’s a credit to the Royal Family.”
She was guided by IWM director Diane Lees. Officially opening the landmark Second World War and Holocaust Galleries, she was shown exhibits including a V1 rocket and a box from the secret Oneg Shabbat archive of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Saying she was honoured to host HRH, Lees said: “Formally opening these Galleries, which are dedicated to improving understanding of two of the most devastating conflicts and genocides in human history, a day before the world stands together to remember those who have fallen in war, is incredibly poignant for us. Given that this period will sadly soon pass out of living memory, we want these Galleries to preserve the stories of our veterans, our eyewitnesses and our survivors, and ensure that we never forget what they experienced.”
Holocaust survivors and their descendants recreate famous Prague photo from 1945
Four generations of Holocaust survivors have recreated an iconic photograph taken in Prague in August 1945.
Six of ‘The Boys’, alongside 250 of their relatives and the descendants of those who have since died, gathered on Sunday morning in front of the Jan Hus memorial in Old Town Square.
One of ‘The Boys’ Sir Ben Helfgott, 89, described feeling “overwhelmed with emotion” as the picture was taken, while among those in the picture was celebrity TV Judge Robert Rinder, whose maternal grandfather was one of ‘The Boys’.
Helfgott’s younger sister, Mala Tribich, who joined Ben for the photograph, said: “I was feeling sad thinking about all the survivors we have lost and what it would have meant for them to experience the reunion.
“But I also feel positive and upbeat,” she added. “Today represented survival: the survival of the next generation and all the generations that have come since.”
Following the Second World War, 732 surviving children were flown from Prague by the RAF to the Lake District to start new lives. They became known as ‘The Boys’, later forming the 45 Aid Society to raise money for survivors and teach the lessons of the Holocaust.
James Gordon, 19, whose grandfather Monty Graham was just 15 in August 1945, said: “Sadly we are probably the last generation who will meet these Holocaust survivors and so it falls onto our shoulders to carry on their stories. We are stood here today to secure their legacy.”
His mother Helen, daughter of Monty, added: “I’ve studied that iconic photo from 1945 ever since I was a child- it’s something I’ve grown up with as part of my heritage. It’s so special to be here and I hope we can spread these stories to ensure the atrocities of the Holocaust are never repeated.”
As well as recreating the iconic photograph, the group experienced a collective Friday night dinner in the Jewish Quarter and visited the Theresienstadt Ghetto, where they partook in a memorial service.
Last Monday, Sajid Javid addressed the 45 Aid Society’s annual reunion dinner and recalled bringing his family to hear the story of one of ‘The Boys’, Harry Spiro.
The 16 survivors in attendance were also reunited with the serviceman who flew many of them to Britain in an RAF Sterling bomber.
OPINION: A year on, we remember my beloved grandfather Zigi
Zigi Shipper, my grandfather, died exactly a year ago on his 93rd birthday. His passing was marked by the Prime Minister, the King and the Chief Rabbi. The latter went so far as to speak at his stone setting last month and one thing we can be certain of is that Zigi would have loved all the attention. Although I suspect he could have lived without the whole dying thing.
Zigi loved life more than any other human being I’ve met despite, or perhaps because of, enduring Auschwitz. He found magic in the mundane from a prosaic bus ride to a simple dinner. Indeed, he once told me eating food with cutlery was like making love through an interpreter. When out in public, he wanted to engage and converse and, above all else, make people laugh.
He came to this country with little more than the shirt on his back and was mourned in the Commons on his final departure but status did not interest Zigi. He afforded the man on the street the same respect he showed the woman in the crown. The boy from Łódź never forgot where he came from or what he’d been through. He was passionate about feeding those in need because of the trauma of his youth. He would remind us often enough that it felt like a mantra: “I know what it is to be hungry.”
After the death of my grandmother in the summer of 2020, Zigi shifted back into endurance mode. If one saw him at a funeral in Bushey in his 90s and asked how he was, he would invariably point to the ground and say, “Well, I’m not down there yet so I can’t be doing too badly.” For my grandfather, after all he’d been through, living was enough.
The last time I saw my grandfather, he could no longer speak. Having said goodbye in every sense of the word, I bent down and embraced my hero on his deathbed.
As I went to leave, it was clear Zigi knew as well as I did that this was our final encounter and, using what little strength he had, held tightly onto my hand to keep me in the room for as long as possible. It dawned on me, in the dark of the afternoon, that he was scared. It was the first and last time I ever saw the man truly fearful.
Zigi died at home, at the age of 93, surrounded by his children. I think most of us would be happy with that, without even factoring in a lifetime involving concentration camps and heart attacks. It bothered me, therefore, that he was clearly worried and his final night was spent in a manner that suggested deep distress. Perhaps dying peacefully in your sleep is a newspaper euphemism or maybe it only applies to other people.
In the year since his death, I believe I have come to understand that fear. Zigi didn’t just love life, he understood its value as well as anyone in recorded history. The American songwriter Warren Zevon, confronted with his own imminent demise, claimed he now understood how important it was to “enjoy every sandwich” and the same was true of my grandfather. He savoured every football match, every glass of whiskey, every phone call with a friend. He was the living embodiment of the Jewish toast, l’chaim. My grandfather’s entire modus operandi could be summed up in the words, “To life!” It is little wonder he fought against death to the very last.
It was recently pointed out to me that Zigi was born on the 18th, died on the 18th and, if the digits are taken individually, his Auschwitz number 84303 adds up to 18. The number 18 in Judaism, chai, means life. It is considered good luck and is probably the most significant numerical value for Jews. It was, in fact, our good fortune to have had all those years with him and, to quote the American writer and director Robert B. Weide, “For those who never knew him, I’m sorry for your loss.”
