Shoah survivor made honourary member of youth group who paid for his summer camp in 1939

A Holocaust survivor who turned 90 last month has been made an honourary lifelong band member of the same Jewish youth group which paid for him to go on summer camp as a young boy in 1939. 

The Barnet Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade (JLBG) met Vienna-born Harry Bibring as part of the series of Holocaust Memorial Day events, and he recalled how the organisation took him under their wing.

He told the band members how, after he arrived in the UK, he moved in to a house near the old Head Office of JLB and, in summer 1939, when he was a member of the Tottenham Company, the group invited him to join them on their annual camp in Kent, covering all the costs. 

“Following his talk and his connections in 1939 with JLB as it was then, it was very fitting that at the end of the evening we made him an honorary member of our Band,” said member Isabelle Murray. “He seemed very moved when we presented him with a hat.”

Band member Charlotte Kurash added: “It was an honour to have Harry visit us and tell us about his experiences. You can learn so much through textsbooks but to have someone who lived through it, share their experiences with you, brought the full horror of what happened to life.”