100th birthday Twinning Celebration
Jewish Care are excited to be twinning Holocaust survivor Henny Franks 100th birthday with three of our supporters, Nicole, Debra and Rachel who are celebrating their birthdays at the same time combining to 100.
Why not twin your birthday with a resident or member at Jewish Care and help raise money for their special day. Find out more about how to Celebrate with Jewish Care here or email us at celebrate@jcare.org to find out how to Twin your Celebration.
We are looking forward to celebrating together with Henny, Debra, Nicole and Rachel who are fundraising for the Holocaust Survivors’ Centre.
Holocaust survivor and veteran, Henny arrived in England as a refugee on Kindertransport in 1939 at age 15 with her brother and sister. Her parents fled with the family to Belgium in February 1939, after they were forced to hide on the rooftops in Cologne, Germany, on Kristallnacht.
Henny says, “Six months after I arrived, I could speak English and I was recruited by the British Army. We were a very big crowd of Jewish girls, like myself.”
Henny and her friends were trained for different roles; truck driving to fire-watching and underground telephonists. Henny was recruited to the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).
“Stationed at Westcliff-on-Sea army base, I learned to drive lorries moving ammunition.”
Henny says, “I was glad to be in the army. I got on with people and I also met my husband there, he also served in the army.
“I loved England very much. We marched through the street in Westcliff-on-Sea. I felt so proud and I’m still proud I’ve been in the Army. I’ve done my bit. I was the lucky one. And I want people to know that Jewish people did their bit to fight back,” she says.
During her four years in service, Henny travelled and meet her mother who she hadn’t seen for two years and had narrowly escaped Germany, though tragically, her father, Jacob Grünbaum was arrested, deported to Sobibor and murdered.
Her army pay book, still with her, is a battered but treasured sight. Henny embodies the optimism and creative drive of a woman who had everything stripped away, yet found the dedication to pursue and rebuild a life here, with her husband, in the UK. She says that her two children and three grandchildren are a constant source of support.
