AJEX veterans: ‘When we march, youngsters appreciate the sacrifices made’
The 88th AJEX annual remembrance parade honoured Jewish men and women who served in our Armed Forces. Jewish News' Michelle Rosenberg spoke to some of them at the Cenotaph.
The message from veterans at the 88th AJEX annual remembrance parade and ceremony last weekend was clear: education, education, education.
Jack Rose proudly served in the Royal Navy as a submarine engineer between 1973 and 1983. Pointing to the insignia on his coat, he explains that the double dolphins are the equivalent of pilot wings. He served on fast attack nuclear subs including the Valiant, Churchill, Sovereign and Trafalgar.
“Engineers don’t get medals,” he laughs. “Life was busy, but not too cramped on board because the nuclear boats are very large, bigger than most surface ships.”
Jack vividly recalls serving in the Black Sea just 10 feet beneath the Russian fleet.
“We were photographing all their equipment, observing their operations through the periscope, filming and taking soundings. We were in an ‘ultra-quiet’ state in order to do so; very quiet indeed.”
On one of his subs, Jack discovered he wasn’t the only Jewish crew member on board.
“We came into harbour at the end of Yom Kippur. The captain had given me permission to fast and allowed me to break the fast with a glass of sherry and some bread. It was then that I discovered that the Chief Steward was Jewish as well, so he joined me.”
Jack commemorates his father at every AJEX march. “My wife wears his medals; he was in the Glider Pilot regiment and flew into Arnhem. He and several others managed to make their way through the forest to the Rhine. He was lucky enough to swim back across the river.”
Jack’s message to the younger Jewish generation is stark: ‘Bigotry hasn’t gone away. It’s on the rise and very important that we understand about making a proper contribution and standing up, both within the Jewish and wider national communities. We have served, we continue to serve and must maintain that similar vigilance within society.”
Jacques Weisser served as Executive Director of AJEX, retiring in 2018. Six months after he was born in 1942, his mother was taken to Auschwitz and murdered. Hidden for 18 months in Sint Erasmus hospital in Antwerp, he was captured by the Germans and sent to a Jewish orphanage.
Jacques was rescued by the Belgian Underground and hidden in the Baron de Castro orphanage in Brussels until September 1944 when at the age of three years old, he was liberated. Miraculously, his father survived Auschwitz and various other camps, death camps and marches. The two were reunited in July 1945.
“I would not be anywhere but here on this annual parade. For so many years, AJEX has been at the forefront of fighting antisemitism. We as Jews are so lucky to be in England where we have been able to flourish. When we march, the youngsters can appreciate the sacrifices that were made, so that they can have their freedoms and be able to what they can do today.”
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