I’m 76 born in Leeds. Worked at Burtons, started has a junior clerk in the Personnel Department, served Reuben Burton his tea and coffee every day on a silver tray. Always asked about my family, lovely, lovely man. Burtons were very paternalistic employers. The upside though we had good food, days out, a putting Green, an actual disco where we could dance on a lunch time. I enjoyed myself at Burtons, a real sense of community. A very Jewish environment, though I didn’t recognise it at the time. Happy days.
Irish Catholic exiled to a foreign land living in quite unusual circumstances , a Russian Jew became my brother my teacher my savior , compassion patience generosity self sacrifice I could go on and on , I bow my head and touch the feet of my Jewish brother. Shalom shalom 🙏🪔💚
Growing up in Leeds our corner shop was run by a Jewish family called Macskys they were like family to us children in fact we called them aunt and uncle. They were an important part of my childhood and to this day I still think of and miss them
Great work! I was told I had family in England that came from Lithuania, but due to the rest of the family being murdered in the holocaust, the connection was lost
"...knowing that I'm different and that being different isn't necessarily such a bad thing." It makes me happy to see a young person get to that place. It took me a lifetime.
Where are the people who support converts? The law supports the convert, but other Jews look down on them. Orthodox Rabbis have shunned converts.There was a woman in Israel who was forced to covert again and again for different Orthodox Rabbis.
This touched me very much. I came across this by accident and I'm so glad I did. Although my heritage is American (English, Scottish, etc.) and I grew up as a Presbyterian, this is a topic I am very interested in. Thank you for uploading this film. 💐
Great documentary of Jews and their sufferings.Only God can punish the evil doers and snatching the lives of so many.But I really appreciate and in awe about how the Jews have flourished all over the world now.Maybe due to their will to survive and move forward in life.God bless them.🙏🙏🙏
so well done, I was married to a romanian Jew. so much of your story reminds me of his families history. Still my heart breaks. I learned a lot, thank you
I am a Christian, I belong to The Salvation Army so I know what it is to be different and in a minority. I have such an affinity with Judaism, I utterly deplore any and all attacks on Jews, it totally sickens me. I believe that I could have Jewish ancestory through my paternal grandfather, Thomas Elwell, and I read recently of the name Elwell being a surname of Jews arriving in America. God bless you for making such a wonderful film and God bless all Jews everywhere and keep them safe. Tessa Adie nee Elwell.
An interesting programme. I did a DNA / ancestry test. I have Ashkanazi Jewish roots. A grandfather generations back was a Rabbi in Holland. I wonder what he would have made of my grandfather "marrying out?" lol
I’m a catholic raised in Chapel Allerton and went school on the Harrogate road! My Uncle married a Jewish lady and there kids were brought up in the Jewish way and good luck to them for doing that and my uncle converted, so for me I have a connection. It was a very interesting watch and well researched bit of the leeds history well done.
A friend escaped the Nazis in Vienna as a child and was sent on the last children's train to Britain. Now an American, he somehow learned the impossible rules of cricket and became a good "train spotter" while living in the English countryside.
Thanks for making this wonderful film about the Jews in Leeds - my hometown. I grew up in this wonderful city, was a member of the Judean club, benefited from the generosity and hard work of those Jews who came before me. I'm struggling to find words which are adequate to thank you. Watching this movie has been an extraordinary experience which I will share with others. Thanks again Simon - Stephan Burnett
I went to Leeds Technical College..1964-66. I learned women's and childrens tailoring from a most brilliant man called Mr Tomlinson. We went to visit a Jewish exhibition in Leeds Art Gallery. All drawn charcoal pencil, marvellous scraps of paper with haunting sketches from concentration camps...as held as prisons there.... Oh l loved it. Was reluctant to leave... I grew up with a man Jewish escaped on kinder transport..Richard (Fairfax), name changed...a tailor. I worked for Lou Baruch as a designer in Bradford, Kamella children's outer wear...kindest man. Came to love the Jewish peoples...
A marvellous film to come across!, This mirrors my family history, Russia, the Leylands, North Street:I grew up in Leeds so this is so evocative. I used to go to your( grandfather’s?) Dougie Glass’ shop in Moortown to buy bagels, buckling, cream cheese,and the best onion and mon cakes I have ever tasted! I went to school with one of your aunts, Linda, whose home on Scott Hall Road, I visited on many occasions, and remember your mum, Beryl as a little girl in pigtails.She must be so proud to have such a gorgeous son. Keep well and give your aunt Linda my love. Diane Frazer
Your film is inspirational. Thank you so much. My wife's family paternal ancestors came from Poland but from a part partitioned by Russia. They fled enmasse in early 1900's to avoid russian conscription and adverse other policies of that time. I have now a new insight as to the dearth of information on her other ancestors who remained. I could never comprehend why her uncles would not want to discuss the past. Now I do. Bless you.
Well researched documentary.Some beautiful scenery in Lithuania. Since my ancestors are Yorkshire, this documentary showed a different side of Leeds. So moving.
Although I'm from a Christian background with a very, very small modicum of Jewishness, I still felt deeply affected by this film because after all, we are all people with backstories that are to be cherished. We all come from interesting lineages.
Incredible documentary. My father was born in Leeds and his ancestors came from Russia way back. I felt a deep connection with the stories told here as it's my family's history too. A world away from where we live in Australia now, and via the home my father's family made in Rhodesia after WW2. I wish my grandmother could have seen this story. She would have known so much about it all.
Thank you !! You really moved me and helped me experience the story of my ancestral ancestors. I am a Jew from Israel, a mixed-race girl from the Ashkenazi and Spanish communities. On the father's side, deportees from Spain who walked to Morocco and from there on foot to Tiberias and Jerusalem. And on my mother's side, Poles originally from the city of Lita who moved to Warsaw and besides my grandparents who are immigrants from the Second Aliyah and founders of the city of Tel Aviv, the whole rest of the family went to the camps and were murdered in the gases of Ashwitz. You really moved me, thanks !!!! Happy New Year to all of us. ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.
Alway sad to hear and must never be forgotten. I am from a family of Cohens from ilford london .My mother Rosetter Elzabeth Cohen was one of nine dating back five generations.The same would have happen to us if those braves souls did not give their live for us. Two of mums brothers fought the nazis, staff sgt Leonard Cohen ,Capt Patrick Cohen Royal Artillery. Leonard was to be married after a long stint on Lancaster bomber, His crew was asked to do one last trip . They were shot down and killed in holland. Patricks battery was bombed and he was the only one alive. Mum said he left the family after the war and entered the church..please accept my condolence of the sad deaths of your family.It dose not matter how long, it still hurts.
'They tried to kill us, they failed, let's eat'. My heart beats in my chest, and my daughter's in hers, because they escaped, because they suffered, because they were brave.
@Ozi Bits that's a bizarre claim. It isn't a holocaust competition. Many peoples were targeted and killed by totalitarians and still are, they aren't ignored and nobody is turning a blind eye. However, just because many Orthodox Christians were killed does not mean they were killed because they were Orthodox Christians. The prejudice the Nazis had towards the Slavic peoples was far more influential than their disdain for Orthodox Christianity (the two just occasionally overlapped but, in the case of the Poles, for instance, it was Catholics who died in large numbers, it wasn't their Catholicism but their Polishness which was the problem for the Nazis). Furthermore, the point of the phrase highlighted here is to recall the repeated pogroms and attempted genocides against the Jewish people and I'm sad to say that these have often been perpetrated by Orthodox Christians. In fact, one of the most lasting and horrid bits of antisemitism in official public life was in the Greek Orthodox liturgy in which there was mention of 'the hateful Jew'. So, on two counts you are very, very wrong and you should rethink in a serious way.
Just stumbled on this little gem :) a very similar family history. Dad’s family fled Russia in the late 1800’s and settled in the Leylands, number 8 Grafton Street. All tailors. I lost my dad Michael sadly about ten years ago - Rabbi Gilbert was an absolute shining star during this time so if he happens to see this, thank you so so much 🙏 If anyone sees this who have family that grew up in the Leylands, please leave a message? I’d love to connect. Our family were/are the Yules (Joels?) and Handworkers. You might hopefully recognise names: On the Yules side - Mary, Ada Annie, Ruben Louis, Lily, Myer, Dolly, Rita, Isabella, Celia, Jacob, Sylvia. Or on the Handworker side: Herman, Ettie, Nathan, Raphael, Abraham. Would dearly love to share any stories or photos. Thank you :)
In 1993 I went from NL, Canada to see where my Great-Grandfather came from in Sweden. It was a very good experience to find my roots. I can’t imagine how heart breaking it must have been to find out your family members had been rounded up from their homes and been murdered like yours were in cold blood. I have no Jewish history or affiliation, but I believe the very heart of God was broken too at what your family and people experienced. I am glad you are alive today and well represent your family and people. May God always bless you in your endeavours to bring out the truth. I think your forefathers and mother’s would have been very proud of you.
@@JuicyHumanoid God is not to blame for the evil men do. We all have a free will and unfortunately innocent people suffer the consequences of the evil in some people.
How much free will did the Jewish community depicted in the clip have? all annihilated together withe most Eoropian communities. Church and the God you like to protect were silent or absent - choose your terms. And you coose to stand for them- free will and all?
I am so grateful to my grade 8 science teacher, Miss Jenny Cohen! She came from Leeds to St Paul's, Namibia. I need to find her, and thank her! I am in London these days. Where are you Miss Cohen, I miss you!
A very interesting and moving documentary. I grew up in Leeds. I only recently discovered my great- grandfathers sister married a jewish gentleman named Newman, she converted. I guess this was 1920s/30s? I do not know them but I wonder if they remained in Leeds. The maiden name would have been Bridgmount.
Further investigation revealed she was indeed called Margaret Newman, but there was some connection to the Finkelstein and Rakuzhin families. Does anyone know more?
I'm speechless, what a beautiful story of survival and success, but at the same time very sad for the family members that didn t survive that dark period in history. May their memory be blessed!
Jasmine K. Is it hard to keep kosher in Leeds? I am not Jewish but very interested in Judaism, I have Jewish friends and they are good people, greetings from the West Midlands
My family for the most part never left Lithuania. My parents were some of the 5% who survived out of the 225,000. After the war they mostly lived in and around Leningrad. Most survivors were scattered with only a tiny number returning. My parents returned in the late 1950 because my father who had become an electronics expert, was posted to work on public radio installation. The lived in Vilnius for 20 years before starting work for the Soviet Foreign Ministry in different embassies in Western Europe. Then retiring back in Vilnius. The Litvak people with a history of 700 years in Lithuania is now reduced to perhaps less than 500 out of the 2,500 Jewish people in Lithuania today. But we exist still. There is something I feel people who are descended from those who left should know. This is because of Jewish people I spoke to while working in London for time. I attended Passover with a family and their friends thanks to a local Synagogue. They for some reason thought I was from Russia and were very surprised it was from Lithuania. The common belief that no one was left. I sensed they felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to know what problem there was. Among the older family they seemed to feel guilt of having abandoned or betrayed family. My parents and the few older people told me it was a great family effort to raise the money to send family away. In the end they were happy to know that some had been put beyond the reach of the Nazis and we would survive in them. All the effort was repaid by the success of their lives. People at the time would say how their brother or sister or cousins were free and safe. It was the hope that could not be taken away.
This is AMAZING! I can't believe I've never seen this before. I live just down from Moortown and I knew we had a vibrant Jewish population but it's so wonderful for this to be shared so we can understand more. Antisemites have the nerve to call Jewish people 'un-British' and yet there are prayers for the Royal Family, which Catholics (of which I am lapsed one) would never do. The same accusation is never levelled against us.
Do you ever think about the poverty stricken hard working Irish people ( my paternal family ) ? They suffered a lot more than the Jews and so many who made that nightmarish journey to Canada , the US and elsewhere . Emaciated and treated abysmally most didn't survive and Records show the horror of dead women , children and the elderly being scraped off the ships because of ice . No one seems to make sure that Irish history and suffering are remembered which is why the Republic of Ireland support Free Palestine 🙏 . I remember signs in boarding house windows saying ..quote " No Blacks , No Irish , No Dogs ".. unquote . Something I can never forget.
@@suzannelacy8093 I absolutely do, but I'm not sure why you chose to compare the suffering of the Irish to Jewish people. It's not the oppression Olympics and you need to seriously examine why you felt the need to comment this.
@@suzannelacy8093 Oh, I see! You're anti-Isreal. Your decision to comment that on a completely unrelated video about British Jewish refugees has its roots I'm antisemitism. Goodbye.
Thanks Simon really enjoyed your film and the insight it gives to the Jewish community in Leeds. Also it was very moving to learn of the loss of your relatives and the rest of the Jewish people killed by the nazis in Belorussia. RIP to them.
A wonderful documentary , such incredible history , Your ancestors would be very Proud of you for making this film and going back along the road to yesterday in search of their footprints they left behind for you to tell their journey .....Toda raba
My dear friend, who I took care of in her later years, said her father had escaped from military conscription in the Czar’s army. He was from Villna. At 12 he walked across Europe then got to to England for a few years before continuing to America. He served in the US army for decades. He’s buried in Arlington Cemetery. Her mother was sent to the States from one of the small villages in the countryside after her mother died. She lived with distant cousins and started working in factories at a shockingly young age. The story goes that she was home sick the day of the shirt factory fire. It possibly saved her life. Most of the rest of the family that didn’t leave Europe died.
I really enjoyed watching this programme and it brought back many memories of brilliant times and wonderful people. I lived in Chapel Allerton the district next to Moortown from 1986 to 2003. I lived nearby and with Jewish people and, in Geoff Eastman and Neville Winehouse ( Amy’s uncle!!) I worked for Jewish people. I was married in a church in Chapeltown which is next door to the Northern Contemporary Dance school, which was a synagogue but closed as the Jewish community became more successful and moved to the outskirts of Leeds. My son is at Leeds Beckett University and when we visit him we stay in an Air BnB on Street Lane. In all my time in Leeds I always found Jewish folk to be nothing but sound, hard working and devoted to their faith and families. We now find ourselves in difficult times when Palestinians and Israelis are doing awful things to each other. Hamas began this war horribly and the Israeli government have prosecuted it badly. When I see Netanyahu and his government I have to grit my teeth but when I see him I do not see the fine Jewish people of Leeds. One of the most interesting parts of the programme was the quote that the Jewish people of Leeds always saw themselves going forward because they never really had anywhere to go back to. I hope and pray that this may continue and that they can somehow insulate themselves from this strife and continue to live in peace and safety with those around them
Watching this again Simon. Just to “level” myself and to remember my good friends in Leeds and my good friends in Hull with whom I still share happy memories and I offer my thanks to them for their acceptance of me into their lives. A shared relationship important to them as they are to me........... and it’s the 10th May. ☹️
The U.S.'s history with Jewish Immigrants faired no better in comparission to the U.K. In fact,I would not have known that I had Jewish ancestry were it not for DNA test mostly and some genealogy research. Interestly enough my gramdma(mom's mom & dad) and also my grandfather's brother,my great uncle has a long line of Jewish DNA. Interestly in my own generation, my cousin on my dad's side married a wonderful man of this faith and culture; so a full circle tbh Years ago,I went to my cousin's son's Bar Mitzvah and before that my cousin's wedding. What a great experience.
What a wonderful documentary!! I used to live in Leeds - a lifetime ago - so remember a few of the areas. Was there ever a Mikveh in Leeds?? Thank you so much for posting this.
My great great Grandmother who's family name was Beer, came to Leeds from I know not where. I should think she arrived around 1860. She was Jewish and married a non Jewish man called Mr Pickles. They had a son called William Beer Pickles who was the father of my Grandfather, William Pickles. Grandad wanted to convert back to Judaism but wasn't allowed to in those days. I wish I could find out more about my Gt. Gt. Grandmother and her family.
An excellent documentary thank you! I’ve always been fascinated with the Jewish community and because I’m from Manchester I remember the men with their long coats and big hats! Whilst aware of the big Jewish community in Leeds I had no idea they didn’t wear the same attire! So emotional for you going back! I’m sure you are pleased you did! Well done
I am a Church of England i have always been interested in learning about other faiths, now i understand more of the Jewish beliefs and ways of life. I really liked the man who worked in fashion, what a lovely person. I find it deplorable that there is antisemitism again in UK, and of course the horrendous troubles in Israel was disgusting. thankyou for this very informative programme.
My great grandmother was a Jew from Birmingham UK This was lost to us because my fathers father died Dunkirk WW2 and after the war when my dad was 14 they emigrated to NZ . I have in the last decade moved back to UK and discovered my fathers lost family. Through my own genealogy research I discovered that my fathers paternal grandmother was a Jew. Since reuniting with the family they confirmed to me that my great grandmother was indeed an ethnic Jew i now consider myself ethnically part Jewish I want to know more abt my Anglo Jew roots in Birmingham and beyond from Eastern Europe and firstly Israel What tribe are we? My gt grd mothers family name was Barnett, they were brass founders & jewellers & watch makers All tho her first name was Gertrude her sisters had Jewish names Kerenhappuch, & Rachel Her brothers had Anglo names ( presumably to enable them to be more “ acceptable “ for employment) I think they came from Russia, Poland or Ukraine in 1800s ( presumably cuz if Pomgroms) That’s all I know Oh they lived on 199 Devonshire street Interestingly there was a brass foundry there called Barnet’s Brass Foundry Can you help me at all?
Nice to see a bit of old footage of Hull, my old home town. There was actually a purpose-built platform and associated buildings in the railway station for the immigrants moving West (not just to Leeds but often onward to Liverpool and the US) which survives to this day as a listed building.
I am a child of the 50's, not Jewish but I remember shopping with my Mum on North Street, she loved bagels, matzo and kunzel cakes. The Jewish bakery was the only place you could get them. You can go back in time to the saxon times and there were Jews in Leeds. I believe Jews have been persecuted over the centuries because they are enterprising, hard working and have a good head for business.
Vilna was the epicentre of a particular movement in European Judaism, the Misnagdim, or "Litvak" movement. "Misnagdim" actually means "opponents" because they followed the ideas of the important Talmudic and halakhic scholar, the Gaon of Vilna (1720-97) in strenuous opposition to the rise of Chasidism, which came to dominate in most of the rest of Eastern Europe. It was a very bitter and vituperative fissure throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, and in some respects it is still a marked divide and distinction.
So sad that anti Semitism is alive and thriving in the comment section of this post. There is so much hatred in the world. Time for a new mantra..I am using Yusuf Islam/ Cat Stevens Peace Train recently rereleased on RU-vid. May I suggest it for many of the commenters on this video.
Touched by your work! Mum’s family on her Dad’s side came over to England also and was a gents’ tailor. Mum’s family owned White textiles & manufacturing in Dublin. They lived here in Leeds also….I know little about them but enough to love everything about them!
Thank you for creating this documentary, just being with you in your search for your relatives and past is very moving, The father of my children is a Goldberg from Leeds, I believe his family originaly came from Poland and my two children (now your age) are Goldbergs,
Uncle Ted Marks, his Father Samuel Marks (a tailor) always thought they might be related to M&S......perhaps they were! Mervyn Brightbart’s Sister Susan was in my class at School. She was lovely! Very happy days! This is a fascinating programme. I am pro-Jewish. I am a religious man (of the CofE) and I have to say that many Jewish people I have met on my path through life have been exceptionally kind to me. Generous and helpful, inviting and accepting of me. I have NO hesitation in thanking them for their friendship and generosity and even today they are my friends and I am thankful for these friends who truly are friends for life.
