The My Voice book collection comprises the poignant narratives of Holocaust survivors and refugees living in Greater Manchester, the North West and London. These accounts, written in the first person, intimately capture their experiences before, during, and after the war years. Each book serves as a powerful reminder, ensuring that these stories are preserved and passed on to future generations. The collection offers invaluable insights for students and scholars specialising in contemporary history, Jewish studies, and memory studies, making the books essential reading material in these fields.
My Voice
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Henry Monath was born in Kraków, Poland in 1925. He grew up in a family who ran the second-largest furrier business in the country. By 1938, his mother recognised the increasing dangers for Jewish people in Poland and travelled to London in January 1939. She managed to arrange for Henry and his sister Rezika to escape to England, where she was reunited with them. Henry reflects on the challenges of settling in a new country, and recounts his experience being evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool in 1939 once war had broken out and later living through air raids in Manchester. After the war, Henry married Gloria, and they had two children. He built a successful company manufacturing lampshades. He visited Kraków several times in later life. Henry’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Ike Alterman was born in 1928 in Ożarów in Poland. In telling his story, he recounts his happy Orthodox Jewish upbringing, the tragic loss of his immediate family in Treblinka and Auschwitz, his ordeal through concentration camps including Auschwitz-Birkenau, surviving multiple death marches, and his liberation in Theresienstadt in 1945. Ike is one of ‘The Boys’, brought to Windermere in England, as part of a British governmental scheme granting asylum to Holocaust child survivors. Ike describes his rehabilitation, and new life in Manchester, where he started a family and established a jewellery business. Later in life, Ike pursued closure by revisiting his hometown in Poland and undertaking a difficult trip to Treblinka. He reflects on his life after immeasurable loss, and what it means to endure and bear witness. Ike’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Jeannine Scher was born in Paris in February 1935. She was the second of seven children in a religious Orthodox family. At the outbreak of war, her family moved to Laprugne in the Allier department of Vichy. When Nazis rounded up foreign Jews in the Vichy Zone, the family moved to Broût-Vernet, where her father became director of a home for refugee children, and eventually escaped to Switzerland. Post-war, the family moved back to Paris, where Jeannine attended a lycée and went on to study Maths at university, after which she taught Maths and Jewish Studies at a secondary school. Jeannine married Naftoli Scher (Tuli) and moved to England in 1958. They had eight children and later moved to Manchester, enjoying being surrounded by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Jeannine’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Leo Stein was born in 1922 in the German town of Pforzheim. Growing up in a Jewish family in Germany, Leo witnessed first-hand the rise of the Nazi regime and the horrors of Kristallnacht. Thanks to a Jewish school in Liverpool who granted Leo the promise of a scholarship, he was able to get a visa and escape Germany just before the outbreak of war. Leo describes the kindness of families in Liverpool who provided food and shelter for the new arrivals, as well as the support from entities like the Jewish Refugee Committee. Leo settled in Manchester and was later joined by his uncle and brother, with whom he grew a successful menswear clothing company in Salford. He married Helen and had two children. Leo’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Leonard Kaufmann was born in Germany in April 1935. With the threat of war looming, his uncle Arthur managed to secure sponsorship for Leonard to escape to England on the Kindertransport. Alice and Ronald Argles sponsored 30 children in total, and Leonard lived in their home in Staffordshire with them almost until the end of the war. When Leonard finished school, he went into the family business, manufacturing egg slicers, which later developed into a wholesale business. In 1961, Leonard married Ruth and moved to Gatley, Manchester. They had two daughters, Sarah and Debra. Leonard worked as a clothing manufacturer for a short time and later spent many years as the administrator for the Yeshurun Synagogue. He does not remember his family who all perished during the Holocaust. Leonard’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Marianne Phillips was born in 1924 in Berlin. Following the Nazi rise to power, and her mother’s sudden death, Marianne’s father temporarily placed Marianne and her younger brother in a Jewish orphanage. This is where she met Harry, her future husband. Having experienced the aftermath of Kristallnacht, and following a brief family reunion, her aunt arranged for Marianne to come to England on the Kindertransport in 1939. After initially living in Somerset, where she worked as a domestic and nanny, Marianne moved to London. She was reunited with Harry, and they married in 1943 and settled in Maidenhead, raising two children there. In later life, Marianne relocated to Manchester and immersed herself in her new community. Marianne’s resilience and strength shine through her narrative. Marianne’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Peter Adler was born in April 1933 in Berlin. When Hitler came to power, his father lost his job for being Jewish, and in 1936 he moved to England, where he had to requalify as a doctor. By June 1938, Peter, his mother and sisters had joined his father in London and during the Blitz, Peter was evacuated to the countryside. After studying medicine at London University, Peter met his wife Eve, a nurse. They moved to Zambia for two years, lived in Israel for a short period, and settled in Luton where Peter worked as a doctor in a general practice. They have three daughters, Keren, Tami and Mandy. Peter and Eve now live in Derby and enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren. Peter’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Peter Kurer was born in 1931 in Austria. He had a happy childhood in Vienna, but everything changed with the Anschluss. His father narrowly missed being apprehended by the SS by feigning illness. Peter’s parents resolved within a week to leave Austria. With the help of a Quaker couple, Peter’s family was guaranteed safe passage to England in 1938. The family settled in Manchester after the war where Peter’s father opened a dental practice whilst Peter and his brother attended a Quaker boarding school. Later, Peter married Heather in 1955, after which he completed his National Service. They settled in Cheadle and had four children. This book chronicles Peter’s successful career in dentistry, including extensive international travel to give lectures, and the instrumental part he played in establishing the Morris Feinmann Home in Manchester. Peter’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Peter Mittler was born in Vienna in April 1930 and witnessed the Anschluss in 1938 when life changed overnight for Jews. He escaped to England on the Kindertransport in January 1939 and stayed with a sponsor family in London. Peter’s parents had also managed to get to England, but his father was sent to an internment camp on the Isle of Man for 9 months during the war. Peter joined the British Army in 1949 and then studied Psychology at Cambridge. He went on to spend 14 years as Director of the Hester Adrian Research Centre (HARC) at the University of Manchester and Peter’s leadership in the development of policy and provision for adults and children with intellectual disabilities was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1981. Peter’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.
Renée Mosbacher was born in 1929 in Vienna. Renée’s parents had both died before the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Germany in 1938, and she was living with her auntie and uncle. Renée witnessed the growth of antisemitism and anti-Jewish laws. After the horrors of Kristallnacht, Renée and her brothers made a dangerous journey to England with her auntie in December 1938, where they were reunited with Renée’s uncle. Renée recounts her arrival in London, the musical success of her brother Norbert, a talented violinist, and moving to Manchester. Over the next decades, Renée lived a busy life, became a parent to seven children, experienced happy marriages, and describes the joy and success of working, travelling and being part of a loving family. Renée’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a series of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.