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“I’m probably one of the few people alive who can still remember Berlin before the war.”
Holocaust survivor Peter Summerfield BEM recalls his harrowing childhood memory of witnessing the burning of synagogues during Kristallnacht in Berlin.
At just five years old, Peter witnessed the terrifying destruction firsthand on his way to school, and shares how his father was kept safe from persecution during this brutal period after being hidden in a cellar by a brave local caretaker.
Mindu was born in Czekoslovakia in 1929. Life changed in 1939, when her father was drafted into a forced labour battalion and the rest of the family were sent to a ghetto. At 14 Mindu was sent on a cattle truck bound for Auschwitz. Her brothers and mother perished on arrival. After eight grueling months of forced labour she was liberated. Provisions were eventually made for her to travel to England to live with her uncle and his family in Birmingham who treated her like a daughter. She met her husband and they started a family and built an electrical store business together. Mindu was awarded an MBE for services to Holocaust education. (Concentration Camp Survivor, Displaced Persons Camp, Brought to UK by Rabbi Schonfeld: postwar, Theresienstadt, Auschwitz).
Read Mindu’s fully story in the My Story section on the AJR website.
“I would hope that they would continue with their Jewish way of life... and mainly be kind.”
In the second part, nutritionist Jodie Brandman and first generation Holocaust survivor Hedy Gavurin cut into their freshly baked challah.
Beyond the recipe, Hedy leaves us with a gentle, powerful reminder for future generations: to hold onto our heritage, pass down our traditions and above all, treat one another with kindness.
“It was sheer hell on earth.”
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 her mother’s harrowing ten days in Auschwitz, a place she described as “sheer hell on earth.” Survival often hinged on the brutal roll calls, or appells, where prisoners were forced to stand completely still for hours in any weather. Severely malnourished, Eva’s mother fainted multiple times during these roll calls, a situation that was usually a death sentence. However, she was saved by the ultimate act of solidarity: her friends silently held her upright, masking her unconsciousness from the guards and keeping her alive.
AJR Journal Editor Jo Briggs takes us through some of the stand out stories featured in this month’s edition.
In “A Very Sweet Refugee Story,” the grandson of the founders of Ackerman’s Chocolates shares how Jewish refugees built a small UK confectionery business into a renowned name, producing thousands of kilograms of chocolate a week and earning a Royal Warrant in 1968 after catching the attention of Princess Margaret.
The issue also reflects on ninety years since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Beyond the global spectacle staged by the regime, the feature examines how anti-Jewish restrictions were quietly hidden from international visitors while Jewish athletes were systematically excluded from competing, uncovering a dark intersection of politics and sport.
Visit the link in our bio to explore the latest journal.
Did you know that the medieval town of Sandwich, Kent, played a part in one of Britain’s most remarkable refugee rescue stories?
In 1939, nearly 4,000 Jewish men fleeing Nazi persecution found temporary safety at nearby Kitchener Camp. Many later volunteered to serve in the British armed forces during the Second World War.
Today, their story is remembered through an AJR Blue Plaque, ensuring this extraordinary chapter of history is never forgotten.
📍Sandwich, Kent
“If Hitler had his way, none of us would be alive.”
Holocaust survivor Peter Summerfield BEM sits down with his grandson, Harry Sassoon, to talk about the vital importance of passing family history down to future generations.
While Peter reflects on his luck escaping Nazi Germany and flourishing in England, Harry shares his dedication to transcribing and preserving his grandfather’s testimony ensuring these powerful memories are never forgotten.
“And his death meant my life.”
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 shares a heartbreaking paradox of survival in the camps.
Becoming pregnant in a concentration camp was considered by the Nazis to be a crime punishable by death. Eva’s mother fell pregnant secretly, giving birth to a son, Yishai, who tragically died of pneumonia just two months later. When her mother was later deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, arriving without a living infant saved her from immediate execution in the gas chambers. Though she was already secretly pregnant with Eva, it didn’t yet show, allowing them both to survive one of history’s darkest chapters.
