Continental Friends

There follow reports from recent get-togethers.

For information about meetings email Susan Harrod - susan@ajr.org.uk

Northern Groups

Bradford Continental Friends

for further information, contact susanne@ajr.org.uk

Bradford members getting to know each other
An animated discussion took place: now members are getting to know each other, their recollections are becoming more personal and informative. Susanne Green seems to find former refugees and survivors of whom we – who have lived in the area for years - have never heard!

Broughton/Crumpsall Continental Friends

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Cheshire Continental Friends

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Didsbury Continental Friends

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Dundee and Aberdeen

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Lively discussion in Dundee and Aberdeen
Meeting in the home of Sharon Cummings, we had a lively discussion. Guta Robertson talked about having spent four years in camps and factories in Germany and then marrying the British PoW with whom she had made 'eye contact' in one camp. Heni King related how in 1939 she was taken from Vienna by her parents to Portugal, escaping almost certain death. From Portugal her parents emigrated to Canada, where she grew up. Also among those present was Eci, who was deported from Hungary to Auschwitz.

Edinburgh

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Vienna today
Lilian Bell (née Heller) told us about her recent visit to Vienna with her brother John. The main reason for the trip was to visit the old Heller Printing Factory – owned by Lilian’s family but confiscated in 1938. Most harrowing was seeing for the first time where her parents had lived next to the factory and then visiting her mother’s childhood address. Happily, Lilian also met up with family still living in Vienna.

Glasgow

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Successful meetings in Glasgow
We have held two very successful meetings recently. In April, Sharon Baron gave an interesting talk on her research into the history of Jewish Care in Glasgow for a commemorative book soon to be published. In May, Glasgow held its first smaller Continental Friends meeting at the home of Ingrid and Henry Wuga. Fourteen AJR members enjoyed an informal social afternoon.

Harrogate

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Harrogate CF Get-together
We heard details of Rosl and Marc Schatzberger’s recent visit to Vienna as guests of the Austrian government. Together with many other continental friends, as well as those from farther afield, they were treated as honoured guests. Sharing their trip with us made the afternoon a very special one.

Hull

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A visit to the European Parliament
Rose Abrahamson gave an interesting account of her recent visit to the European Parliament, a visit sponsored by the Socialist Party. The afternoon was greatly enjoyed by all, and we look forward to our next meeting on 5 October.

Leeds

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Leeds HSFA meetings
Dr Dolf Mogendorf’s subject was ‘Bystanders’, an account of the experiences of Jews during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Some groups among the general population, he said, attempted to help Jews or to thwart the Nazi occupation in other ways. There were many examples of resistance but also many examples of compliance.

 

At a second meeting, Dr David Goodall explained that after WWII tourist travel to Germany was not possible until 1953. During his visits to Germany in 1955, 1956 and 1957, he heard remarks expressing antipathy towards the Russians but considerably less so towards the Nazis. Indeed, many of the Germans he met told highly implausible stories of being of Jewish descent and having suffered persecution under the Nazis.

Leeds (Continental Friends)

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Leeds CF
Susanne Green told us about the Liverpool HMD events at which the Liverpool Memorial Book was displayed. Members were invited to bring recipes for a ‘Recipes Remembered’ book to be compiled by Pippa Landy. Suzanne Rappaport (Ripton), who was a hidden child in France, brought a DVD of Muslim students in Bradford who had been to Auschwitz following a course of study. This wonderful DVD is to be used as an educational tool.

Liverpool

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Liverpool lunch
Members from Liverpool, Manchester, York and Blackpool met up at the Liverpool group annual lunch. Emeritus Professor Leslie Brent gave us a very interesting talk on ‘From Intolerance (Racial) to Tolerance (Immunological)’. After lunch we visited the Klimt exhibition at the Tate North at Albert Dock.

Manchester (Continental Friends)

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The rebirth of Jewish life in Germany’
Some 40 of us welcomed Dr Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist, who spoke to us about the Jewish community in post-war Germany. As he himself had lived in postwar Germany for more than 30 years, he was in an ideal position to deliver a most informed presentation about the rebirth of Jewry in that country.

Newcastle

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Return visits
Two members described visits to the places of their birth. Edith Kronenberger was invited to Vienna as part of the ‘Letter to the Stars’ project, whereas Walter Knoblauch’s visit to Munich was privately arranged. We also reviewed the Yom Hashoah commemoration, including the excellent Janusz Korczak exhibition.

Northern Region Groups

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Northern Groups and Leeds HSFA joint event
The annual joint event of AJR Northern Groups and Leeds HSFA, held in Salford, began with two brief introductory talks, following which participants divided into groups for discussions on 'Early Life in Britain and What People Have Done since Arriving in the UK', 'Claims', and 'Through the Eyes of the Second Generation'. There followed a break for lunch and a talk by John Minnion entitled 'Hitler's List' - brief accounts, illustrated by cartoons, of eminent people stigmatised by the Nazis as persons of inferior race and compelled to leave Germany. The afternoon was again taken up with discussion groups, on 'Revisiting One's Country of Origin', 'Jewish Influence on European Culture' and 'Heritage, Origins, Genealogy, Roots'. All participants then reassembled for brief reports by the discussion group facilitators. A tea marked the end of a successful occasion.

Sheffield

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The effectiveness of Holocaust teaching
An innocent question by a new member, ‘How effective is the teaching of the Holocaust to 12-14-year-old schoolchildren?’, sparked a lively discussion. Are a few sessions by teachers (however well or not well qualified), even if supported by a survivor’s talk, adequate? What is the alternative? What should be its link to present-day race relations in the UK? To be debated at our next meeting on 31 August.

Whitefield/Prestwich Continental Friends

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