#remarkable lives

Sylvia 97 (1/6) Sylvia’s story begins: “I was born on the 20th July 1920 in Warsaw, Poland. My father Yanche was an engineer and when he left the army, he and my mother, Esther, brought us to England. I had two older brothers, Noah and Alf, and two older sisters, Anne and Fay. I was the youngest. My father set up an engineering business in London and we lived above the factory in Hackney Road. My brothers were also engineers. At home, growing up, we spoke Yiddish. My father used to read Yiddish newspapers; it was very much the culture in our home. I suppose it was quite a narrow world. There was a Yiddish theatre in the East End which was like a life line to us. I used to enjoy reading Yiddish authors like Sholem Aleichem. So I spoke Yiddish at home, but out of the home I spoke English. Later in life, when I had my own children, my husband and I would also speak Yiddish at home. We stopped when the children started to understand!”

Anita 90 (6/6) Anita looks back on her life: “I wouldn’t really change my life, because I was very fortunate. I had a very nice husband and we were married for over 60 years.  I was lucky to be alive quite frankly.

Anita considers her faith…“I’ve always believed in God, I was brought up in a synagogue, I am Jewish through and through.”

Jean 86 (1/1) School rules: “If I hadn’t been a teacher I’d have been a stand-up comic, but in those days, there was no such profession for girls. I was born in 1930 and I remember my first day at school. Because I was dragged there! I wasn’t a willing pupil. My parents were shopkeepers but I won a scholarship. It was co-education. Well, I had to have the boys. A girls’ only school wouldn’t be for me – I had to be able to show my knickers! They had 3 rules. First, if you’re going out, you sign the Walk Book. I didn’t bother. Second, no roller skating. Third, you DO NOT show your knickers. Thing is, roller skating in your gymslip is difficult, so I had to roll it up and tuck it in. I was going down the hill with not a care in the world, singing the latest song and…Miss Burgess saw me. She nearly had a heart attack and I got my come-uppance. But believe it or not, they made me Head Girl. Well, I had to wear the gymslip properly then; I was in a representative capacity. I remember it was 1944, because the rest of them were busy with the war.”

Derek 89 (3/3) Life on the ocean waves: “I met Sheila in the West Indies. Her father was a timber merchant who’d travelled to the West Indies with his wife and daughter and I was touring out there at the time. When I came back to England we spent my Leave together. And thereafter, we spent pretty well every Leave together. Once we’d met we never parted. She was clever – much cleverer than I was, no doubt about that. When I got my Master’s Ticket, she was able to travel with me on the ships. We saw the world together.

I left the merchant navy in 1961. I never went back to sea. We had three daughters and ran a post office and shop in an isolated village in the Lincolnshire Fens. But I'll never forget the sea.”

Betty 89 (5/5) Betty meets Arthur: “And then I met my husband. We used to go to The Capital, dancing, on a Saturday. My cousin took me and would take me home. One day, he came in with a friend, Arthur. We just took a liking to each other. I took him home but my mother said, ‘Don’t eat that stand pie, because I want it for company tomorrow.’ Well, I couldn’t think what to give Arthur, so I gave him sardines on toast. ‘Ooh,’ he said, ‘they’re lovely, these.’ When we got married he told me he never liked them.”