Jewish actor Tracy-Ann Oberman, collected her MBE today, characterising the occasion as a “moving and magical experience”.
Oberman, a JC contributor, was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list last year for services to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism.
The stage and screen actor, who recently starred in an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice set in 1936 as a Jewish matriarch battling the fascists of London, said she was “honoured” to be appointed an MBE.
“It was a really moving and really magical day,” she told the JC.
"I felt honoured to receive this for the work that I have done trying to combat antisemitism and trying to bring communities together and also, for working alongside the Holocaust Education Trust and others to never let people forget the horrors."
The actor, who has appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner and recently made a dramatic return to EastEnders, reprising her role as Chrissie Watts, said she was “moved” by of the “support” for the Jewish community expressed by the King during the ceremony at Windsor Castle.
"This came from both the King and everyone at the palace that I met,” Oberman said.
“The King was really lovely. He said how important it was that the Holocaust is never forgotten, particularly these days when many of the last survivors are passing away. He also said how it is so important to keep the message alive.”
Oberman attended the ceremony with her husband, daughter and mother. Her daughter, she said, is currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank, and was “emotional” watching her mother collect her medal.
“She found it very emotional and said, ‘In the middle of reading the Shoah-era book, I get to see my mum standing there 80 years later being honoured by the King of England’. She found herself quietly welling up - which I thought was lovely.”
Reflecting on the current climate in Britain, Oberman said: “People I spoke to at the palace said they can really see a rise in antisemitism. They all said I need to continue doing what I am doing…They really understand the threat that that Jewish people feel at the moment and they said they stand with us.”
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