Bridging Generations with Pieces of Paper on Holocaust Memorial Day

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day focuses on Bridging Generations – a theme that feels ever more urgent as we lose more survivors with each passing year. Just last week, we lost Harry Olmer MBE: a true legend, a tireless educator, and one of the many survivors whose first-hand testimony has shaped how we remember the Holocaust.

For decades, survivors like Harry have carried the responsibility of remembrance themselves. They speak in schools, synagogues and community halls, reliving unimaginable trauma so that others might learn where hatred leads, and why it must never be allowed to take root again. But as the survivor generation diminishes, the question becomes unavoidable: how do we continue to remember, to teach, and to pass on these important stories?

At World Jewish Relief, we believe part of the answer lies in our archives.

A chance discovery in an old garage in North London in the 1980s revealed thousands of documents dating back to the 1930s and 40s, recording the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees who fled Nazi persecution and were supported by World Jewish Relief (then the Central British Fund) to rebuild their lives in the UK. With thousands of documents still unreturned, we are on a mission to reunite survivors and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with their own family histories.

These documents are remarkably detailed. They include dates of birth, places of origin, arrival dates, British school reports, addresses, employment histories, correspondence with social workers and rabbis, and personal letters that capture the emotions in real time. Together, they form an extraordinary record of both persecution and compassion.

Recently, members of our volunteer archive team visited Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivor Centre to speak with survivors about this work. One of those who approached them was Ivor Perl, one of “The Boys” – the group of young Holocaust survivors brought to Britain after the war. Ivor asked whether we might hold anything about him, and we were able to hand him an 80-page ‘case file’ he had never seen before. Inside were school reports, official correspondence, even letters relating to his intention to marry his future wife, alongside a stern admonishment from a Rabbi! Ivor was 13 when he arrived in Britain. For others who came even younger, these files help fill in gaps they cannot remember themselves, and gives them something tangible to pass on to their families.

For the second generation, this reconnection with the experiences of their parents can be profoundly meaningful. Many survivors spoke openly to their children about what they endured. Many others could not; the trauma too raw, the memories too painful. Our archives help sons and daughters better understand not just what their parents survived, but how those experiences shaped the people they became.

That was certainly the case for Mona Golabek – concert pianist, author and actor – who recently visited our North London office to explore her mother’s story through our records. Her mother, Lisa, was a Kindertransport refugee who was forced to rebuild her life in the UK. Mona has spoken powerfully about how seeing these documents transformed her understanding of her family history. As she put it: “It’s like the missing piece of your legacy… the documents had so many details even about her inner life and her fears and her gratitude. It was a true diary of five years of my mother’s life that filled in all the gaps.”

What has been most striking, however, is how these records are reaching the next generations. At the same Jewish Care event where Ivor discovered his file, a member of staff, Sarah-Jane, decided to ask about her grandmother, Kitty. Within minutes, our team located her grandmother’s records.

Sarah-Jane later told us: “Finding my late granny Kitty’s documents was deeply emotional for our whole family. To see the exact date she arrived in England from Vienna and the exact address of her first place of work was astonishing. Even more moving was reading that she refused assistance with her fare… so unmistakably her.”

Just days ago, a member of Young World Jewish Relief made a similar enquiry. Once again, we found the records, detailing his great-grandfathers arrival in the UK. Four generations, bridged by a single file.

Perhaps it is misleading to call these simply archives. These are not dusty papers locked away in a basement. They are living pieces of identity, memory and legacy. At a time when Holocaust denial and antisemitism are on the rise, they matter more than ever. They ensure that as voices fade, the truth remains for generations to remember.

Paul Anticoni is Chief Executive of World Jewish Relief. Find your family history in World Jewish Relief’s digital archives: www.worldjewishrelief.org/archives