AJR: 70 Years On – Celebrating the Jewish Refugee Experience in Britain

The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) arranged a series of events in conjunction with the London Jewish Cultural Centre (LJCC) to celebrate the AJR's 70th anniversary and the remarkable contribution and achievements of the Jewish refugees who fled Nazi persecution and settled in Britain.

The program featured lectures, discussions and debates all highlighting the Jewish refugees' experiences. Films about the history of the émigrés were also screened, as well as interviews they have given for the AJR's Refugee Voices testimony project. The program included a Question Time-style event and a panel of speakers offering the contrasting perspectives of different generations of Holocaust refugees. The week-long event, which started Monday 20 June to coincide with National Refugee Week, culminated in a celebratory concert starring some of the brightest musical talents in the country on Sunday 26 June.

Participants included former refugee and government minister Lord Moser, Martin Lovett, the last surviving member of the Amadeus Quartet, the journalist Anna Karpf, and Rabbis Rodney Mariner and Jonathan Wittenberg. There were also contributions from politicians, lecturers and human rights activists, as well as the Austrian and Deputy German Ambassadors and representatives from the AJR and LJCC.

More information can be found in the event program.