AJEX urges community to mark VE Day during lockdown by toasting L’chayim

An association of Jewish veterans has urged the community to toast L’chaim at home on VE Day to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Germany’s surrender to the Allied forces.

A flurry of events celebrating Victory in Europe Day, which falls on Friday this year and marks the end of the Second World War, have been cancelled amid the coronavirus lockdown.

But Mike Bluestone, the national chairman of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX), called this week on the community to celebrate the date at home.

“Given that this special anniversary falls on a Friday, what better way to commemorate and remember VE Day and all who fought than to add a toast to our Shabbat meal,” he said.

“We are humbled by the sacrifices that were made and the immense contribution of our community to the fight against Nazism,” he added.

AJEX is to broadcast on Sunday afternoon a virtual lecture delivered by the association’s deputy national chairman Dan Fox and vice president Brian Bloom, entitled “VE75 – Jews and the Victory In Europe.”

AJEX will also release a video interview with Normandy veteran Mervyn Kersh, who was stationed near Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp when it was liberated by British troops 75 years ago.

Kersh, 94, from Cockfosters, travelled to Bayeux earlier this year to commemorate those who fell on D-Day on the 75th anniversary of the landings.