Since our Newsletter started, many of our readers have taken an active interest in going back to their M’bro roots. There are a number of reasons for this: renewed contact with friends from youth or long-lost family through the Newsletter; the passing of a dear one which revives reminiscences; the discovery of old documents and photographs, and the general interest in Jewish genealogy.
Some of our readers have sent us family material which is too lengthy for the Newsletter, but which is ideal for our website. In addition to the six Newsletters, the website has many more articles and letters, including interesting photos of early life in M’bro, an article on Rabbi Epstein, the Kindertransport and Missing Persons lists and Rose Saville’s 90th birthday. In the pipeline are the 1946 Victory Booklet with the complete service records of all the M’bro members, and a Poetry Corner with Rita (Benjamin) Brisk. So, here’s your chance for posterity. Please send us anecdotes and short articles for the Newsletter and let us have longer articles for the website.
Named at last We feel sure that the members of our virtual Kehila would like to know of each other’s existence. It will also help reduce the people in our Missing Persons List—now down to 50 from 80 six months ago. In addition, the renewed contacts between you will result in new names previously unknown to us. Therefore, in our next issue (July 2000) we propose to set out a list of all 300 readers—just names only, no addresses—so that if any of you wish to contact old childhood friends from M’bro you can write to us and we shall give you their addresses.
Any of you who do not wish your names to be included in this list, please let us know before the end of June.
Visitors who Contacted us
Henny Myers. One of the four Sztrum sisters. She brought us the famous 1939 picture taken at Bank Top Station of the four sisters with Rabbi Miller, NJ Marks and Philip Simon, waiting for the connecting train to take them to M’bro.
Gillian Hush MBE (and not OBE – sorry!). She managed also to see her Silverston cousins and her Israeli M’bro contemporaries.
Window into the Past
Those of you who were wondering whatever happened to the artefacts from the Shul following the closure in November 1998, will be interested to learn that one of the two 100 year old windows has been presented to Hall Garth School Acklam.
It was originally dedicated in memory of Henry Simon who died in 1909. It was presented to the School by his grandson M’bro solicitor David Simon in February 2000. A group of pupils studying Judaism visited the shul shortly before the closure and expressed interest in the window.
We are indebted to Dr Jane Sherman and Eve (Bharier) Teiger for enabling us to share this with our readers.
Boro Reunions
Tony Glass, son of Adele and Harold, formerly of Emerson Ave, recently attended the London wedding of his sister Jennifer’s son, where he met Roma (Bharier) Brooks, daughter of his parents’ best friends, Nat and Sophie Bharier, for the first time in 40 years.
Terry Greenberg and Freda Cannon were both at Marton Road School in the 1930’s. Blanche Roland wrote (see letter, page 2) that Freda’s brother Myer now lives in Israel. We located Myer and his three siblings and so enabled Terry and Freda to speak together after 70 years.