At Pinner Synagogue, the Yom Hashoah commemoration, attended by 300 people, focused on the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport.
The principal speakers were Ann and Bob Kirk, who came to Britain separately on the Kindertransport. They gave a moving account of their experiences of antisemitic harassment and praised the selflessness of their respective parents in enabling them to flee Nazi tyranny.
“On the whole, most Kindertransport children eventually settled down happily, married and started new families,” Mrs Kirk said. “Bob and I have two sons, three wonderful grandchildren, and now a great-grandson.”
At Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, Warsaw-born survivor Isy Sznajer addressed a full house of more than 350 people in the shul hall. Having escaped the Warsaw Ghetto, he was hidden by a farmer for 18 months before finally being rescued by the Russian Army.
