Their parents eventually managed to secure visas to travel to England days before the war.
“Sadly there was a great deal of antisemitism at the time and that still exists today,” Mr Skyte reflected. “After war broke out, Germans living in England were all regarded with suspicion and my family was arrested and interned, despite the fact we were more anti-Nazi than most people.”
The brothers were sent to an internment camp on the Isle of Man before being moved on to Canada, where they stayed until 1942.
On his return, Mr Skyte volunteered for war work. He married a fellow Jewish refugee, Thea, and the couple were granted British citizenship in 1947.
He joined Leeds Jewish Welfare Board in 1951, going on to become chief executive, and was awarded an MBE for his community work in 1976.
Mr Skyte is one of 16 Holocaust survivors and refugees whose stories feature in an interactive exhibition at the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre in Huddersfield.
