Next Generations

The AJR has always welcomed the next generations of the former refugees as members, something reflected in our Articles of Association. As we celebrate our 80th anniversary in 2021, it is unsurprising that those who identify as second and third generation will, in the not too distant future, become the majority of our membership.  As of 1 March 2021, 44% of AJR members are ‘next generations’.

While we will always remain fully focused on delivering our critical social welfare services to the first generation, as the number of that cohort inevitably declines, we are also looking to serve the interests of the next generations.

The purpose of AJR Next Generations will be:

– To honour the experiences of our parents and grandparents and the enormous contribution that they made to Britain
– To celebrate and preserve the heritage and culture of our ancestors
– To connect with other people whose family shared similar backgrounds
– To share insights about the long-reaching impact of the Holocaust
– To signpost to subjects of interest to the next generations

 

Survey

The AJR has a survey, launched at the end of 2019 (pre-Covid) to gather the opinions of the next generations about the type of services they would like us to provide. By February 2021, 475 people had responded to help us shape AJR Next Generations. If you have not already done so, you are welcome to respond to the survey here. 

An overview of the survey results to March 2021 can be seen here.

 

The Committee

This new area of interest is led by a designated sub-committee of AJR trustees and employees:

– Danny Kalman (Chair) – AJR trustee and vice-Chair of the Kindertransport Committee. He is CEO of ella forums, a charity that promotes effective leadership in the voluntary sector. Danny is second generation: his father arrived on Kindertransport from Frankfurt, and his mother survived the war by changing her identity in France.

– Gaby Glassman – AJR trustee and second generation. Gaby is a psychologist and psychotherapist in private practice, specialising in transgenerational transmission of trauma, and a facilitator of second generation groups in the UK and abroad.

– Stephen Kon – AJR trustee and Solicitor specialising in EU / competition law. Stephen is second generation: his father was a survivor from Łódź Poland who arrived in the UK as a refugee with the Free Polish Navy in 1944.

– Debra Barnes – AJR employee working on Communications, Next Generations & My Story, and author of The Young Survivors. Debra is second generation: her mother was a hidden child in France.

– Dr Bea Lewkowicz – AJR employee, Director of Refugee Voices. Bea is second generation.

– Michael Newman – AJR Chief Executive. Michael is third generation: his grandmother was a refugee who came on a domestic visa from Germany.

 

Next Generations’ Voices

Next Generation Voices will be a collection of recorded messages from members sharing their thoughts about what being a descendant means to them. The project will be led by Dr Bea Lewkowicz, Director of AJR’s Refugee Voices testimony archive. Work on this new project will begin in Spring 2021.

 

Next Generations in the AJR Journal

From March 2021, Next Generations will have its own section in the AJR Journal featuring articles and interviews of interest plus event listings for the coming month. Please email the editor of the Journal, Jo Briggs, with ideas of future articles and feedback.

 

Virtual Conference 2021 – Autumn 2021

We are pleased to announce our intention to hold a virtual conference in Autumn 2021. We look forward to putting together an informative and engaging programme which will be of particular interest to second and third generations.

This event will be in place of the conference on the Second Generation planned for April 2020, which had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Online Events

The AJR has held 300 online events for members and a wider audience during this past year of the Covid-19 pandemic. This incredibly successful project has been extremely well-received and our intention is to continue with online events for the foreseeable future. The main events are recorded and posted on AJR’s YouTube channel and include many of particular interest to the next generations, such as:

– Descendants of the Holocaust: 75 Years after the Liberation

– Reclaiming European Citizenships

– Jewish History & Genealogy

– Robert Rinder: Our Families, the Holocaust & Us

 

Other Groups

Generation2Generation is an organisation which enables the continuation of Holocaust testimony by working with second and third generation to help them tell their family stories to schools and community organisations.

Second Generation Network was formed in 1994 and brings together second and third generation members from across the UK to explore the effect of the Holocaust on their own lives.

The 45 Aid Society was established in 1963 by The Boys, Holocaust survivors who came to Britain after the Second World War, to raise money for charity to give back to society and to look after each other. It is now led by the 2nd generation who are also driving new initiatives and creative projects such as the Memory Quilts.

Association for Children of Jewish Refugees was established in 1985 to bring together people with a common background as children of refugees from Nazi persecution, and to promote social, cultural and intellectual activities for members.

Northern Holocaust Education Group  helps 2nd and 3rd generation develop their family stories into engaging Holocaust education resources.  It works to counter antisemitism and all forms of discrimination and ensure the Northern regions of England have access to high quality resources.

The Kindertransport Association is a US-based group established in 1991 by Kindertransportees living in North America. Founded as a charitable organization of all generations to bring together Kinder and descendants, promote Holocaust Education, and support charities aiding children in need today, the KTA is now led by the 2nd and 3rd generations.

Further Resources

Kitchener Camp Exhibition is a group set up for the relatives of the 4,000 men who were rescued in 1939 by the Central British Fund (today World Jewish Relief) for German Jewry and brought to Sandwich in Kent to a former WWI base known as Kitchener Camp. The AJR unveiled a plaque at The Bell Hotel in Sandwich, Kent on Monday 2 September 2019, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Kitchener Camp

Liberation75  is the world’s largest international event to mark the 75th anniversary of liberation from the Holocaust. It will now be held in the form of a virtual conference from 4-9 May 2021.

JHSE EU Passport Project collates British Jews’ reflections on applying to restore an ancestral citizenship of an EU27 country.

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