News & Events
Leeds Jewish Care Services
Holocaust Survivors
Friendship Association
Registered Charity No.1084433M
Beginnings
The HSFA was formed in 1996 at the instigation of social workers of the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board in order to give survivors of Nazi persecution an opportunity to meet and provide mutual support. The objects of the Association have since broadened to include research and Holocaust teaching.
Membership
Membership is open to Holocaust survivors, those who have had to leave their countries of origin because of Nazi persecution, members of their families and to any other persons interested in furthering the work of the Association and ensuring that the Holocaust is never forgotten.
The present membership comprises approximately one hundred people consisting of :
- Camp Survivors/Slave Labourers
- Ghetto Survivors
- Hidden Children
- Kindertransport Children
- Pre -war Refugees
- Second Generation (children of survivors)
- Other persons interested in the aims of the Association
Objectives
The primary aim of the Association is to preserve the memory of the Holocaust in order to remind all of the consequences of every form of unbridled hatred and bigotry, thus to seek to prevent recurrences of the horrors that have been unleashed in Europe and the more recent Genocides throughout the world.
Activities
HSFA supports the teaching of the Holocaust in schools, colleges and other organisations by providing experienced speakers, some of whom are able to give living witness accounts of personal experiences as camp survivors and Kindertransport children.
The Group collaborates closely with other organisations such as the Beth Shalom Education Centre, the Holocaust Education Trust and the Anne Frank Trust and participates in special events related to Holocaust Memorial Day, together with local authorities, radio and television.
An annual programme consisting of regular talks, social events and a “Regional Get Together” is provided for members.
The Association is presently participating in local authority workshops to explore ways that members, who were suddenly separated from their country and families, can share experiences with and for the benefit of young present day refugees and asylum seekers.
Project
The project “Making a New Life: Holocaust Survivors in Yorkshire” is being carried out by the HSFA in collaboration with Centre CATH of the University of Leeds.
Oral testimony of members’ experiences, supported by documents, videos, audio tapes and other artefacts are being stored in the Special Collections at the Brotherton Library of the University of Leeds and will be available to researchers, students and the general public. Three research workers, supervised by Professor Griselda Pollock, are at present collating this material.
HSFA actively encourages families to donate documents and artefacts for the deposition of these into our archives.
Financial Support for the Project
HSFA is grateful for the generous funding provided by the Ziff Family Charitable Trust, the Julius Silman Charitable Trust and the AJR Charitable Trust. Further funding is essential and is currently being sought for the continuation of this very important work.
For further information about this and other services please contact us on 0113 268 4211 or email barbara.cline@ljwb.co.uk