Obituary: Max Abraham

A refugee from Nazi Germany, Max Abraham, came to England as a teacher with half the Ort School of Berlin.

Leaving school to take up an apprenticeship, he worked on machine tool assembly line in a Jewish-owned factory. But the factory was aryanised - confiscated for a nominal payment - and Max found himself out of work.

He replied to an advertisement in the local Jewish paper for a mechanical engineering teacher at the Ort vocational school for boys aged 16-17, and got the job.

With the increasing Nazi threat, the school sought help through Col J H Levey, honorary treasurer of its British counterpart, British Ort-Osé.

Founded in 1880 to create work opportunities for East European Jews, Ort moved after the 1917 Russian revolution to Berlin, where it set up its main school. It moved on to Paris in 1935.

Osé, founded in 1912 to give medical aid to East European Jews, helped in the emergency of Polish Jews expelled from Germany in October 1938.

Col Levey, a retired British army officer, negotiated with the Nazi regime for the school's transfer to England.

Half the roll, 106 pupils, went in the first batch. Max and his wife, Hanni - they were married in 1938 -were among six accompanying teachers and their wives.

The group left at the end of August 1939 with exit papers signed by Adolf Eichmann. The other pupils and the principal, who were meant to follow, perished. The valuable machinery stayed with the Nazis.

On arrival in England, the women were sent directly to Leeds. The men spent their first night in an East End Rowton House, a doss house. In the morning they were surrounded by East End Jewish families bringing chocolate and cigarettes.

They were then sent to a Kitchener Camp in Kent, a First World War camp rented by the Council for German Jewry in Great Britain as a refugee facility, until the school premises were ready for the autumn term.

Col Levey was the school's chairman and director. Max continued teaching and he and Hanni were houseparents in two of the boarding hostels.

With the syllabus completed and no more pupil intake, the Leeds Ort Technical School was closed in 1942. Its subjects had expanded to include dressmaking, welding and horticulture.

The Abrahams went to London, where Max was found a job by Col Levey in a factory making spectacle hinges. But he soon set up his own successful house decoration business until retiring. Paper hanging and house decoration had been among the courses taught at Leeds.

The "boys" kept in touch through reunions marking, among other highlights, the 60th anniversary of their departure from Berlin and Max's 90th birthday. All had stayed in the engineering field.

He is survived by his wife, daughter, Ruth, two grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.