Around 500 children from Jewish schools attended special sessions at London’s Imperial War Museum this month designed to foster a closer relationship between the institution and Jewish schools.
The sessions were based around a temporary exhibition, “Against all odds: Britain and the rescue of Jewish children”, which celebrated the efforts of Sir Nicholas Winton and Rabbi Dr Solomon Schonfeld; between them they saved thousands of Jewish lives from Nazi-occupied Europe.
Rachel Donnelly, the IWM’s Holocaust learning manager, said, “It is an important story to tell, particularly to young people who may not be aware of their very significant work to save these children.”
Personal items were loaned by the two men’s families, including the silver cap badge for the military-style uniform Rabbi Schonfeld wore to impress those whose help he sought to enlist.
The initiative was a partnership between IMW and Amud Aish, a small museum in New York which focuses on the experience of Orthodox Jews in World War Two.
Amud Aish’s director Rabbi Sholom Friedmann is the brother of Adina Abecasis, the Hasmonean High School Jewish studies teacher who helped to organise the exhibition in London.
The IMW has embarked on a £30 million revamp which will see new Second World War and Holocaust galleries open next year.
