Jewish Care raises £140,000 at Young Patrons dinner
Kurt Marx BEM, a member of charity's Holocaust Survivors’ Centre who arrived in the UK on Kindertransport in 1939, spoke to 400 young supporters at annual event
Some 400 young Jewish Care supporters gathered at The Londoner Hotel for the charity’s Young Patrons dinner, raising more than £140,000 to support its services.
Guests heard from Kurt Marx BEM, Holocaust survivor and member of Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre, who arrived in the UK on Kindertransport in 1939.
A short film shared with guests brought to life what the charity’s services and Holocaust Survivors’ Centre mean to the people who need and use them. Nicole Ashton, chair of the young patrons committee and young Jewish Care committee, appealed to guests to give generously, highlighting the need of both financial support and volunteering from younger members of the community.
Ashton said: “I have been fortunate to witness first-hand how committed Jewish Care is to ensuring that thousands of older people live life to the full. I hope you will donate as generously as you can to help Jewish Care through the cost-of-living crisis so that we can continue to be there for older members of our community and their families.”
Holocaust survivor, Kurt Marx BEM, spoke about the many ways that Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre members feel supported by the charity and shared his own story.
He said: “My parents were, like so many other Jewish parents, forced to make the unimaginable difficult decision of putting me, their only child, on a Kindertransport train at the age of 13. I witnessed Nazi atrocities in my hometown of Cologne in Germany, which included Kristallnacht, the burning of my local synagogue, which then set alight to my school as we arrived for school that morning, and so many other atrocities carried out towards our people by the Nazis.
“I was just a boy, and when I kissed my beloved parents’ goodbye in 1939, I could never imagine that I would never be coming back to my hometown, and that this would be the last time we ever saw each other again.”
Kurt’s parent’s managed to keep in touch by letters for three years and he held on to the belief that they would all go to America together and be reunited.
“On 19th July 1942,” he continued, “I received my last letter from my father, he signed off the letter “We’re just leaving, don’t forget us.” It took 50 years to learn the truth, that the next day on the 20th July, a train left to Belarus with my parents onboard and so many others; men, women, children, grandparents – who were all killed immediately on arrival at The Maly Trostenets extermination camp in Minsk.”
Later, Kurt met and married his beloved Ingrid, a survivor from Auschwitz, who is sadly, no longer with him. Together they had a son and Kurt has two wonderful grandchildren.
Seventeen years ago, Kurt found Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors Centre and he still comes come every week. Talking about Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre, Kurt said: “It is my home from home, a place where I can for a few hours a week feel like I’m back in time, back to my roots, reconnect with where I came from, remember what we had before it was so cruelly taken away, and what we survived.
“Like so many others, I have a story, I feel passionately that our stories keep being told, that we never forget, that your generation carries that heavy beacon of responsibility to ensure that people never forget, and that one day you tell your children. It is truly humbling for me to see your generation all coming together in this one room and showing your support to Holocaust survivors and refugees, and to Jewish Care’s services that mean so very much to us all.”
Adam Overlander-Kaye, Jewish Care’s director of fundraising and community engagement said: “It was fantastic to see a room full of hundreds of young people supporting Jewish Care and showing they care about the older members of the community we support. This has never been more vital than in this tough and challenging time when Jewish Care needs to raise over 16 million pounds this year to help keep the doors of services like the Holocaust Survivors’ Centre and so many others running. The Young Patrons Dinner will go some way to reaching that goal. I would like to thank Kurt Marx for sharing his story and our guests supporters for their generous support.”
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