When I’m talking to friends and acquaintances from war-torn countries, I don’t ask why or how they escaped. After many months, one friend shows me a video of their bombed home in Damascus. A young man I’ve just met alludes to a nightmarish journey through Libya. Others never say a word to me. Most refugees […]
When I was young, I quizzed my granny Bea Senker about her childhood in the East End. An enthusiastic socialist, I hoped to hear heroic stories of my forefathers joining the mass protests to stop Oswald Mosley’s fascist Blackshirts at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Servants Instead, granny told me that her parents
Charles Henry Goff: from Baltimore to the East End Read More »
I’ve recently discovered that some of my forefathers came from the shtetl of Sadowne, in Poland. A great-great aunt, Sarah Appelbaum, was apparently a midwife and teacher in Sadowne, helping to maintain the health and morals of the community. Jewish shtetl society was hierarchical. At the peak were a few wealthy estate managers and successful
A sense of community Read More »
Prominent in a white blouse and a protective hand on a relative’s knee is my great-grandmother Rosa Fischer. This family wedding photo probably dates to the 1930s. Originally from Russia, Rosa’s parents were Naphtali and Bella Fisher. I haven’t yet found out anything about her background or journey to the UK. Pogroms Whatever happened to
The trauma of forced migration Read More »
I’ve just read Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. All white people should read Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book, even if they are anti-racists. Especially if they are anti-racists. For me, it is essential to learn what it is like to live as a black person in this country because
Why I want to thank Reni Eddo-Lodge for still talking about race Read More »
Nowadays, Stamford Hill is associated with the Orthodox Haredi Jewish community. Back in the 1930s, it was a ‘leafy suburb away from the hustle and bustle of the East End.’ Property was cheap and there were lots of houses available. Many first-generation Jewish migrants moved out of the East End to Stamford Hill for a
Memories of Stamford Hill Read More »
My paternal grandmother was one of eight children, and I have innumerable second cousins. I’ve never got to know many of them. But during lockdown, several of us shared a similar idea to research family history. We are all descended from my great-great grandfather Yaakov, who was born in Poland in the mid-19th century. Goldberg
In search of Yaakov Goldberg Read More »