Jewish Civilian Deaths During World War II

Compiled by ©Harold Pollins

Notes by Harold Pollins

• The names have been extracted from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's (CWGC's) Register of Civilian War Dead the selection has been made on the basis of name.

• The deceased armed force personnel are generally not listed in the database but their inclusion as having died in Hughes Mansions is based on inference, viz the date of death and being a member of a deceased family. In the case of Pte Finlay and of Pilot Officer Mantus they are included in the notices of death of their families in the Jewish Chronicle 6th April 1945.

• Many people who were injured in the bombing were taken to hospitals and this has been noted in the database.

• The are anomalies in the CWGC records.  These have been pointed out to them and if accepted the dataset will be updated.

• Some information has been taken from the death or in memoriam notices in the Jewish Chronicle.

• Personal comments have also been added.

Acknowledgment is due to Harvey Kaplan who researched and collated the Glasgow deaths.

Charles Tucker of the United Synagogue has supplied the names of those who died as a result of war actions, and their date of death. Most were already on the lists of civilian casualties in JCR-UK but some were not and these additions are listed in Additional Civilian Casualties below.

Further details about each casualty have been obtained from the CWGC, whose records include civilians who died as a result of the war. However a number on Charles Tucker’s list cannot be found in the CWGC records.

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The Jewish Club, Alfred Place

From: Arthur Barnett, The Western Synagogue Through Two Centuries (1761-1961), 1961, page 257.

‘It was in the spring of 1941 that the catastrophic moment came. In the course of a bombing raid the building in Alfred Place received a direct hit which rendered it, together with the adjoining Girls’ Club, a “Total Loss”. The scene that confronted the writer, who visited it a few hours after the “incident”, was heart-rending in the extreme. There was just a wild sea of rubble with nothing standing more than pavement-high, except for the entrance-gates. But terrible as was this spectacle, there was a still more tragic and horrifying scene next door, where, in the basement of the Girls’ Club, a number of men and women had taken “shelter” for the night. They had been trapped and none knew whether they were alive or dead. A crowd of anxious relatives had gathered, as at the pit-head of a colliery disaster - waiting and hoping to obtain news of rescue work. It was known exactly where the entrapped sleepers lay “in shelter” for the night, and the present writer was able to produce an architect’s plan which showed exactly where the party-wall could be drilled through from the Synagogue side. But in spite of such an operation none survived of the 27 victim, among whom were members of the Synagogue and their families.’

_______________________

From Gerry Black, Living Up West, 1994, page 214.

[Quoting Lily Montagu]

‘Towards the end of March 1941 we decided to take advantage of the longer evenings and to open the Club for educational work from 6 to 8 o’clock. The L.C.C. gave us every encouragement. Our young people were delighted to return. By April 16 much of our work had been resumed, and we were all very happy. Miss Levy looked radiant in spite of the marks of anxiety the war had already made in her face. We were all glad that Wednesday night as we said good night to our shelterers and residents, and to dear Miss Paynter and Miss Hetty Lewin who had come to do their fire watching. That night of April 16 brought one of the worst raids of the war. Soon after 2 o’clock our building was struck by a landmine and completely demolished. With it went the lives of the 27 friends who were there. The terrible tidings were brought to me at 6 o’clock in the morning.’

Page 214/215

‘There is a small plaque, now in the London Museum of Jewish Life, commemorating the Club members who died in the raid on the night of April 16/17, 1941:

We remember those Club members who lost their lives when the Club building was destroyed in 1941. Their memory remains with us:

List of JCR-UK Articles and Press Extracts by Harold Pollins