After the war ended, Britain agreed to take in 1,000 orphaned child survivors of the concentration camps. Only 732 could be found — mainly Polish, Hungarian and Czech children — some of whom were liberated from the Czech camp, Theresienstadt.
The young Jews, ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers, were flown to special hostels set up across the UK for rehabilitation and recovery.
The group set up the 45 Aid Society in 1963 to raise money for charitable causes and to give back to society.
Now the 45 Aid’s second and third generation have organised a weekend trip to Prague to celebrate the contribution the young orphans made to British society.
To date around 200 people — including five survivors — have signed up for the event. They will be joined by ambassadors to the Czech Republic from Germany, Israel and Britain.
Sam Laskier, who now lives in Manchester, is in one of the original pictures, and will travel to Prague with a large family contingent. But not every one of The Boys was photographed: the most well-known, Sir Ben Helfgott, is not in any of the three pictures.
Events over the weekend include a visit to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Many of The Boys were finally liberated at Theresienstadt and a memorial service will be held there and kaddish recited by the son of one of the Boys, who is now a chazan in Vancouver.
