The AJR is the exclusive charity supporting a unique community united by a shared history and a commitment to preserving the memory of the Holocaust
Find Out More
We fund Holocaust education, combat antisemitism, and produce leading resources to advance research for future generations
Find Out More
Home to the UK’s largest community of descendants, we warmly welcome all with a connection to, or interest in, this history: descendants, researchers, and those committed to remembrance, justice and education
Join Us TodayDrawing on powerful material from AJR Refugee Voices and AJR My Story, the below exhibition highlights personal testimonies, photographs and documents from Jewish refugees who fled Nazi persecution and rebuilt their lives in Britain. The exhibition theme will change throughout the year, offering fresh perspectives from our unique testimony archive.
This collection illuminates the experiences of children rescued by the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was a rescue effort between 1938 and 1939 that brought around 10,000 mostly Jewish children from Nazi-controlled territories to safety in Britain after the rise of Nazi persecution.
27
Members over 100 years of age
+300
Holocaust testimony videos
4
Visits from the King to the AJR
“It was so interesting and incredibly useful listening to Holocaust educators from around the world sharing ideas, challenges, and new ways to reach the next generation in what is now a very different time and world. The insights and conversations have reinforced just how vital it is that we continue to adapt, learn, and find new ways to ensure the lessons of the past remain alive and relevant.”
“Thank you for visiting us yesterday. We thought the meeting went brilliantly. We are so lucky to have a social worker as gentle, understanding and caring as you. We really appreciate all the support and advice you give us.”
“Thank you so much for putting on such an amazing event. I’ve found documents about my grandparents that I hadn’t seen before, including my dad’s name on a Kindertransport list. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and my family and thank everyone at the AJR for all you do.”
"My client arrived on the Kindertransport as a small child. Her husband passed away many years ago, and she does not have children. I visit her each week and we talk about current affairs over coffee and cake, and quite often we go out for lunch together. She recently told me that she had forgotten that I was her volunteer and referred to me as her friend! That’s why I love being a volunteer for the AJR."
1,857
AJR Members of whom +600 are 1st generation, of which 30 are over 100 years old
+£8m
Directly allocated to members for homecare and other support services
69,599
Minutes of face-to-face volunteer support in the last 12 months
Exclusive Online Talk for AJR Members
Exclusive Online Film-Screening for AJR Members
Exclusive Online Talk for AJR Members
15 July 2026
Diary Changes, Meetings and Everything In Between People
14 July 2026
Amelie Neckles, Fourth Generation Holocaust Refugee Before I
14 July 2026
Kate Connolly- The Guardian Monday 27 January
“The smell of challah was gorgeous.”
In the latest episode of our cooking series, nutritionist Jodie Brandman joins first generation Holocaust survivor Hedy Gavurin to make challah and share an unforgettable story of resilience.
On 27th August 1939, just days before war was declared, Hedy and her family escaped Germany on the very last train out. Though their journey was fraught with unimaginable danger, they eventually reached safety in the UK, a country Hedy remains deeply grateful to today.
As Jodie and Hedy shape the dough, Hedy reflects on her mother’s weekly Shabbat baking and how sensory memories can instantly transport us back to the warmth of a loved one’s kitchen.
At the AJR, we are dedicated to ensuring these stories and the traditions behind them are remembered and cherished for generations to come.
Tommy was born in Prague in 1935. After his mother tragically died days after giving birth, his father handed the newborn over to grandparents to bring up. As war approached Tommy was found a place on a Kindertransport and arrived in England in April 1939, just before his fourth birthday. He was the youngest child on this particular transport organised by Nicholas Winton. Tommy was taken in by the Smiths, who he would call Auntie and Uncle and stayed happily with them until his father suddenly re-appeared, months before Tommy’s 13th birthday. Tommy later joined the British Military.
Read Tommy’s fully story in the My Story section on the AJR website.
“Testimonies are often called emotional histories because you can understand how somebody responded to something.”
Dr. Bea Lewkowicz OBE reflects on the immense value of listening to survivor testimonies. While textbook history tells us the events, oral histories reveal the human emotion, the choices made, and the personal realities of living through them.
Beyond individual experiences, these accounts highlight the broader rescue efforts, including how the 70,000 German Jewish refugees who arrived in Britain built support systems like the AJR and The Wiener Holocaust Library.
“It was forbidden to go to cinemas.”
Eva Clarke, nee Eva Nathan, was born on the 29th of April 1945 in Mauthausen Concentration Camp, five days before the liberation of the camps by the American army.
Eva recounts the terrifying moment her mother risked execution just to experience a brief moment of normalcy. Because Jewish people were strictly forbidden from entering cinemas, hiding her yellow star was a life-or-death gamble. When the Gestapo suddenly raided the theater and began checking ID papers row by row, she was left frozen in terror, surviving only because the officers miraculously stopped and left the building just one row before reaching her.
“This is the original passport which got all four of us out of Germany… Four days before the war.”
Holocaust survivor Peter Summerfield BEM shows two original documents that saved his family’s lives during their escape from Nazi Germany in 1939.
He shares his mother’s Kennkarte, the identity card stamped with a prominent ‘J’ that Jewish citizens were forced to carry and the single family passport that allowed them to enter England on 27 August 1939, just days before World War II broke out.
Celebrating 85 years of the AJR
From providing continuous social welfare services since 1941 to preserving history through over 1,200 hours of recorded testimonies, the AJR has stood as a pillar of support, remembrance, and community for over 70,000 Jewish refugees and survivors in Britain.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey. Here’s to celebrating 85 years together.
At the Wiener Library in London, Kindertransport scholar Amy Williams holds a photograph of refuge children arriving on the first Kindertransport into the UK from Germany.
In July 1942, the Nazi authorities began the systematic deportation of Jewish people from the Netherlands.
Families received orders to report under threat and deception, promised “labour in the East.” Instead, they were sent to the Westerbork transit camp in Drenthe, which functioned as a staging post for weekly trains. From there, the vast majority were transported to killing centres, primarily Auschwitz and Sobibor, where they were murdered.
The scale of the devastation in the Netherlands was immense. Out of more than 107,000 Jewish people who were deported, less than 25% survived.
Today, we remember those who were lost, the families torn apart, and the enduring legacy of the survivors.
The AJR is home to the UK’s largest community of Holocaust refugees and their descendants, welcoming anyone with a connection to – or interest in – this history, from researchers to those committed to remembrance and education.
By supporting the AJR, you help preserve the legacy of Holocaust refugees and survivors and ensure future generations learn from their stories. Through funding Holocaust education, combating antisemitism, and supporting our research, AJR plays a vital role in keeping this history alive.
