Holocaust survivor Zdenka Husserl has been awarded an MBE by the Queen in the Jubilee Birthday Honours - one of a clutch of leading figures in the Jewish community recognised for their work.
A volunteer for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Ms Husserl has shared her memories of her experiences under the Nazis in talks to young people and community groups.
Born in Prague in 1939, she was sent to Theresienstadt in 1942 with her mother, who was sent to Auschwitz and murdered. She arrived in Britain in 1945 at the age of six.
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Zdenka Husserl (Holocaust Memorial Day Trust)
Deputy Chief Executive of the HMDT Rachel Century said: “Despite living with the weight of trauma and grief, Zdenka has dedicated her life to Holocaust education and commemoration.
“Her energy and commitment have had a huge impact, with thousands of people hearing and learning from her testimony. It is wonderful that Zdenka’s contribution to society, spreading the message of tolerance and understanding, has been recognised by Her Majesty the Queen.”
Andrew Lawrence, a history teacher at Hampton School in south-west London, was awarded an MBE for services to Holocaust and genocide education. The HMDT described him as having had “a profound impact upon young people’s understanding of the Holocaust and more recent genocides”.
In 2014, he founded the educational school project Genocide-80Twenty, which helps students to learn and teach others about genocide. He is also on the HDMT Education Consultative Group.
In receipt of an honorary British Empire Medal (BEM) was Abraham Heinrich “Henry” Wermuth, who has been posthumously honoured for services to Holocaust education and awareness.
Wermuth was born in 1923 in Frankfurt, Germany, to Bernhard and Ida Wermuth, and the family was deported to Poland in 1938 along with all German-Jewish citizens with Jewish ancestry. He and his family were eventually sent to numerous concentration camps, and only Wermuth survived.
In 1942, Wermuth heard rumours that Adolf Hitler would be travelling by train in an area near where he was working. He avoided the guards and blocked the railway tracks with stones and large pieces of wood in an attempted assassination attempt.
Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, but in 1995 he was awarded the Johanna Kirchner Medal by the City of Frankfurt recognising his effort.
Former president of the League of Jewish Women Ella Marks was given an MBE after a career spanning social worker, pastoral manager, board member of Age UK Ealing, and chair of Ealing U3A, a co-operative of older people sharing educational, creative and leisure activities.
Ms Marks said: “I was amazed to be awarded the MBE, and absolutely delighted. I love being part of the multi-cultural community in Ealing and greatly enjoy supporting people and organisations in the borough. I’m particularly pleased to be awarded this honour to mark Her Majesty’s platinum jubilee – I have enormous admiration for the Queen and was given the middle name ‘Elizabeth’ after her!”
Dr Adrian Weller, a senior research fellow at Cambridge University, was awarded an MBE for services to digital innovation. He specialises in artificial intelligence (AI), ethics, trust, and transparency.
Dr Weller said: “I am delighted to receive this honour, acknowledging the incredible work taking place across the AI ecosystem. I have been fortunate to work with many inspiring colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines at Cambridge, Turing, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation and beyond.
“I hope I can encourage more people to get involved as we try together to design, develop and deploy trustworthy technologies which benefit individuals and society.”
Richard Stroud, 73, from Leeds, was given an MBE for his interfaith work in West Yorkshire.
He is the fourth generation of his family to be involved with Bradford Synagogue, where his great-grandfather Joseph Strauss was founding rabbi in 1873.
Bradley Fried, chair of the Court of the Bank of England, has been made a Knight Bachelor. Sir Bradley is co-founder of Investec Bank Plc, and was a non-executive board member of the Financial Conduct Authority.
Sir Lloyd Dorfman, philanthropist and founder of Travelex was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order for his work as chair of The Prince’s Trust, the charity founded in 1976 by Prince Charles to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track.
The Order is one of the highest honours, awarded by the Monarch without ministerial advice, and reserved for those in the Commonwealth who have performed personal service for a member of the Royal Family or a Governors-General.
Sir Lloyd was knighted in 2018. He said in a statement that he was “enormously honoured to be awarded a CVO”, adding: “I became Chairman of Prince’s Trust International in 2015, very soon after the charity was founded. From a start-up, we have grown to have a presence in 20 countries around the world.
“Following six years as Chairman, I was delighted to be made Vice-President by the Prince of Wales at the end of last year. My association with the charity began 20 years ago with Prince’s Trust in the UK, a wonderful charity which supports tens of thousands of young people into education, employment or training every year.
“The work of these charities, domestically and internationally, remains enormously important and urgent.”
In a statement announcing the honours list, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I pay tribute to all of this year’s winners. Their stories of courage and compassion are an inspiration to us all.”
