103-year-old buried after last-minute kaddish plea

A 103-year-old woman, whose family fled Nazi Berlin in 1938, was buried at Bushey Cemetery on Tuesday, after a last-minute plea was posted on social media asking for people to attend in order for kaddish to be said.

The family of Maja Bagley, née Blumenfeld, paid tribute to the United Synagogue Burial Society and the Association of Jewish Refugees for their support in arranging the funeral.

Richard Verber, the United Synagogue’s communications director, said: “At 10pm on Monday evening we posted a tweet asking the community if they could attend Maja’s funeral to enable Kaddish to be said.

“At 11am the next morning, 25 people showed up at Bushey Old Cemetery – most of whom had never met Maja – in order to take part in her funeral. Maja was by all accounts an extraordinary woman and it was the United Synagogue Burial Society’s sacred duty to conduct her levaya. We thank everyone who came, and everyone who spread the word on social media to ensure we had a minyan. It shows the positive power of social media and the importance of community.”

Mrs Bagley was born in Berlin but, aged 19, was able to escape — with her parents and younger brother Conrad — for New Zealand, where her uncle was already living. He stood as guarantor for the family. Many members of her extended family died in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

In Auckland, the future Mrs Bagley trained as a photographer and worked in studios as well as contributing to the local newspaper, the Auckland Star.

She married teacher Hugh Maurice Bagley and in 1959 the couple moved to Australia. In 1970 her husband secured a new job in London and the family — a daughter and two sons — moved again, to London.

A member of the family told Jewish News that the United Synagogue Burial Society had been “lovely and so helpful” in organising the funeral for their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Mrs Bagley had specifically requested a Jewish burial, the family member said, and thanked the AJR’s Linda Kasmir for putting them in touch with the United Synagogue.