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British Hero of the Holocaust

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The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the government of the United Kingdom in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010, it was awarded to 25 individuals posthumously. The award is a solid silver medallion and bears the inscription "in the service of humanity" in recognition of "selfless actions" which "preserved life in the face of persecution".[1]

Campaign for official recognition

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In 2008, a campaign to gain official posthumous recognition of British Holocaust rescuers was initiated by the Holocaust Educational Trust, a British charity founded in 1988. The campaign cited the examples of British citizens such as Frank Foley, Jane Haining and June Ravenhall who had previously been honoured by Israel as some of the British nominees to the status of Righteous Among the Nations, but had received no British honour during their lifetime.[2][3][4]

Under the official British honours system honours cannot be awarded posthumously, so the Trust's campaign sought to have the honours system changed, to allow the awarding of either an MBE or an OBE posthumously to British rescuers such as Frank Foley.[3][4][5] On 7 May 2008, the 50th anniversary of the death of Foley, the Trust filed an internet petition titled 'UK-Rescuers' on the 10 Downing Street website, to call on the Prime Minister to reconsider the laws governing the posthumous honours system.[4][5][6] With a deadline for signatories of 7 May 2009, the petition ultimately gathered 1,087 signatories.[6] It had stated:[6]

...[Foley] was never formally honoured by the British nation during his lifetime for his actions. We therefore call on the Government to review the current statutes governing the honours system, so that the Honours Committee can consider awarding a posthumous knighthood to Frank Foley. We hope that this will open the way for the Honours Committee to consider recognition for other British heroes of the Holocaust, including Randolph Churchill, Sergeant Charles Coward, Jane Haining, Tommy Noble and Robert Smallbones, who risked and in some cases gave their own lives to save others...

Through 2008 and 2009 the campaign attracted support from the media as well as members of both the UK Parliament and the Scottish Parliament, citing the particular examples of Foley, Ravenhall and Haining.[3][7][8][9][10] In March 2009, the MP Russell Brown tabled the early day motion Recognition for British Heroes of the Holocaust in Westminster citing the examples of Foley, Haining and Ravenhall, securing 135 signatories.[11]

Announcement of a new award

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On 29 April 2009, as the early day motion reached Parliament, the government announced that a new award would be specially created to recognise these British rescuers.[2][5][12][13][14][15] Announced just after Gordon Brown's first visit to the former German Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in modern-day Poland, the Prime Minister said "We will create national awards in Britain for those British citizens who helped so many people, Jewish and other citizens, during the Holocaust period".[16]

The recognition was to take the form of some type of a new national award, outside of the Honours System, after the government ruled out reforming the posthumous honours rules, with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Minister for the Cabinet Office going on to discuss the exact form it would take with the Trust, Russell Brown MP and the families of potential recipients.[12][15][16]

British Hero of the Holocaust award

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The new award was announced as the British Hero of the Holocaust award, a state recognition similar to a state honour.[17] It was presented to 27 people on 9 March 2010 – in addition to being awarded posthumously to the families of 25 recipients, the medal was also awarded to two living people, Sir Nicholas Winton, aged 100, and Denis Avey, aged 91. Both Winton and Avey, along with relatives of posthumous recipients, received the award at a reception in 10 Downing Street.[17][1] The award itself is a solid silver medallion, and bears the inscription "in the service of humanity" on the front, and on the reverse, a recognition of the recipient's "selfless actions [which] preserved life in the face of persecution".[1]

To qualify for a British Hero of the Holocaust award the individual had to be a British citizen who helped or rescued Jews or others in the Holocaust; either through extraordinary acts of courage – this essentially captured those people who put their own lives at risk and are Righteous Among the Nations – or by going above and beyond the call of duty in the most difficult circumstances – this included individuals who were not Righteous Among the Nations.[18]

List of recipients

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The original 27 recipients were:[1]

The recipients in 2013 and 2015 were:[19][20]

  • Solomon Schonfeld, a rabbi who saved hundreds of Jews from extermination camps by acquiring visas which allowed them to escape the Nazis.
  • Lena Lakomy who risked her life in Auschwitz to save the life of Hela Frank.[21]
  • Robert Smallbones Consul General in Frankfurt who went far beyond the call of duty to ensure that Jewish families were given visas to save their lives, gave refuge to hundreds in his home and visited Concentration Camps to demand the release of interned Jews.
  • Arthur Dowden vice-Consul General in Frankfurt who went far beyond the call of duty to save lives by issuing visas and by going through the streets distributing food in the days when Jews were not allowed to receive it.
  • A group of ten British prisoners of war who risked execution to save the life of Hannah Sara Rigler.
  • (There is another in this group of POWs yet to receive the award, because he and or his relatives remain untraced in 2015.[22])

In January 2018, eight awards were presented.[23][24]

Two further awards were made in May and June 2019:

References

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  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Britons honoured for holocaust heroism". The Telegraph. London. 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Holocaust heroine honour pursued". BBC News. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "MPs seeking posthumous honours for war heroes". Birmingham Post. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Pollock, Karen (chief executive, Holocaust Educational Trust) (31 August 2008). "Honour our brave Holocaust Scots". Letters. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Wilson, Fiona (28 April 2009). "New award for unforgotten heroes". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "UK-Rescuers". petitions.number10.gov.uk. Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  7. ^ Maddox, David (14 February 2009). "MSPs support Holocaust hero campaign". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  8. ^ "Plea for honour for woman of courage". Dumfries and Galloway Standard. 2 January 2009. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  9. ^ "Award call for 'Scots Schindler'". BBC News. 29 December 2008. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  10. ^ "Honour appeal for 'British Schindler'". Halesowen News. 25 June 2008. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Early Day Motion 1175". Early Day Motions. UK Parliament. 24 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "New award for heroes of Holocaust". BBC News. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  13. ^ "Gordon Brown's Announcement". Holocaust Educational Trust. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  14. ^ "British Heroes of the Holocaust". Daily Hansard – Westminster Hall, Column 287WH. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "New award to recognise British heroes of the Holocaust". Cabinet Office Press Releases. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "UK-Rescuers – epetition response". petitions.number10.gov.uk. Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "British holocaust heroes recognised". DirectGov. United Kingdom Government. 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  18. ^ "Qualification of Award of British Hero of the Holocaust Award 2010". Whatdotheyknow.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  19. ^ "British Heroes of the Holocaust – Speeches". GOV.UK. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  20. ^ British Heroes of the Holocaust 2013 Full presentation ceremony. YouTube. 25 April 2013.
  21. ^ "Holding on… – A blog by James Foucar". Jamesfoucar.com. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  22. ^ Little, Alison (27 March 2015). "Medals for British heroes of Holocaust: Men saved life of young Jewish girl | UK | News". Daily Express. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  23. ^ Eytan Halon (28 January 2018). "Britain honors eight Holocaust 'heroes' for saving Jewish lives". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Britain honours its Holocaust heroes". UK Government. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b Heather Stewart (7 May 2019). "Theresa May backs building of Holocaust centre near parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Prime Minister leads unprecedented support for Holocaust Memorial as further £25m committed". Gov.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2023. Lady Rose L. Henriques CBE, née Loewe, (1889-1972): Henriques was the daughter of James Loewe, a community worker and scholar in the Stoke Newington area of London. The couple worked on a number of joint enterprises together. From 1914 until 1948, they were the joint wardens of the St George's Jewish Settlement in Stepney, later known as the Bernhard Baron St George's Jewish Settlement. When the war ended, Henriques went to Germany where she worked alongside a number of Jewish welfare groups at the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and then at the nearby displaced persons camp.
  27. ^ "Prime Minister leads unprecedented support for Holocaust Memorial as further £25m committed". Gov.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2023. Joan Stiebel MBE (23 April 1911 – 25 January 2007): Joan Stiebel was responsible for making travel arrangements to bring 1,000 underage Jewish Nazi concentration camp orphans to the United Kingdom. The children came to be known in the press as the 'Boys', and her involvement with them continued throughout her lifetime.
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