Tree-mendous! 80 oaks to mark 80th anniversary of Jewish refugee organisation’s founding
25 trees will be planted on Holocaust Memorial Day to honour the Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi tyranny and made an 'enormous contribution' to Britain
The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) will plant 80 oak trees to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its existence.
Twenty-five trees will be planted on Holocaust Memorial Day itself with a further forty planted throughout the week to honour the thousands of Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi persecution.
The AJR – which provides social and welfare services to Holocaust refugees and survivors – hopes that the “80 Trees for 80 Years Campaign” will highlight the “enormous contribution” Jewish refugees have made to British society.
Michael Rosenstock, son of AJR’s founding secretary Werner Rosenstock is funding a tree in Hyde Park to be planted on Holocaust Memorial Day. He has said: “My father, who was General Secretary of the AJR for the first 42 years of its existence, would be amazed and humbled if he knew that the organisation was still going strong at the age of 80, with plenty to keep it occupied.”
The locations selected for tree planting – which include Bradford, Hull, and Swansea, are all historically significant to the Jewish refugees who fled Nazism.
Michael Newman OBE said: “As well as helping to mark the heritage of our members and a place of historic interest associated with them, the planting of this tree enables the AJR to give back to and create a living legacy within the country that became home to the Jewish refugees.”
“Britain’s native oak trees are in decline and new trees are desperately needed. We hope these 80 special trees will be appreciated by future generations and provide natural habitats for other native species for many decades to come.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
