Collection GB 1556 WL MF 52 - Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad (microfilm): Henriques archive

Identity area

Reference code

GB 1556 WL MF 52

Title

Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad (microfilm): Henriques archive

Date(s)

  • 1943-1960 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

64 reels

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Rose Henriques was born in London in 1889, the daughter of James Loewe, a well-known figure in Jewish communal life. Her brother achieved standing as Reader in Rabbinics at Cambridge University.

Rose Loewe came from a comfortable middle class background and had a love of music, performing regularly on the harmonium at her local synagogue in St John's Wood. She studied piano in Breslau. Returning at the outbreak of the First World War, she met Basil Henriques, who persuaded her to join him in a venture to establish a Jewish boys' club in the East End of London. The Oxford and St George's Club dominated the lives of the couple for decades. Rose initially took charge of the girls' section, eventually managing the boys' section as well when Basil went off to do his patriotic duty. The couple married in 1916.

They lived on the premises of their club from which base they undertook a wide range of welfare work involving not only youth work but mother and baby welfare, help for the aged and the promotion of education, participation in Jewish religious life and in the arts. Eventually Berner street, on which the home was situated, was renamed Henriques Street in her honour.

The Nazi persecution of Germany's and Europes's Jews roused the interest and compassion of Rose at an early stage. In 1943 she found the opportunity to become actively involved in planning for the end of the war by joining the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad (JCRA) which was formed by the Joint Foreign Committee of the Anglo Jewish Association and the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The JCRA had as one of its chief goals the establishment of the Jewish Relief Unit (JRU)- an active service unit carrying out welfare work among the surviving remnant of European Jewry in Germany. Rose Henriques served as head of the German department of the JCRA. She was part of the second team to arrive at Bergen Belsen after its liberation and based herself at the nearby town of Celle.

Rose Henriques remained preoccupied with welfare work in displaced persons' camps until 1950 when Bergen Belsen was closed and most Jewish DPs emigrated to Israel or to the USA.

In the post-war era Rose Henriques became actively involved in the British ORT organisation (ORT are the Russian initials of the Society for Spreading Artisan and Agricultural Work among Jews). She also served as chair of the British Society for the Protection of the Health of Jews; established work rooms for the elderly in East London; presided over the League of Jewish Women, the Association for the Welfare of the Physically Handicapped; the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Jewish Research Unit.

When Basil Henriques was knighted in 1955, Rose became Lady Henriques. She died in 1972.

Repository

Archival history

GB 1556 WL MF 52 1943-1960 collection 64 reels Henriques , Lady , Rose , 1889-1972 , social worker

Rose Henriques was born in London in 1889, the daughter of James Loewe, a well-known figure in Jewish communal life. Her brother achieved standing as Reader in Rabbinics at Cambridge University.

Rose Loewe came from a comfortable middle class background and had a love of music, performing regularly on the harmonium at her local synagogue in St John's Wood. She studied piano in Breslau. Returning at the outbreak of the First World War, she met Basil Henriques, who persuaded her to join him in a venture to establish a Jewish boys' club in the East End of London. The Oxford and St George's Club dominated the lives of the couple for decades. Rose initially took charge of the girls' section, eventually managing the boys' section as well when Basil went off to do his patriotic duty. The couple married in 1916.

They lived on the premises of their club from which base they undertook a wide range of welfare work involving not only youth work but mother and baby welfare, help for the aged and the promotion of education, participation in Jewish religious life and in the arts. Eventually Berner street, on which the home was situated, was renamed Henriques Street in her honour.

The Nazi persecution of Germany's and Europes's Jews roused the interest and compassion of Rose at an early stage. In 1943 she found the opportunity to become actively involved in planning for the end of the war by joining the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad (JCRA) which was formed by the Joint Foreign Committee of the Anglo Jewish Association and the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The JCRA had as one of its chief goals the establishment of the Jewish Relief Unit (JRU)- an active service unit carrying out welfare work among the surviving remnant of European Jewry in Germany. Rose Henriques served as head of the German department of the JCRA. She was part of the second team to arrive at Bergen Belsen after its liberation and based herself at the nearby town of Celle.

Rose Henriques remained preoccupied with welfare work in displaced persons' camps until 1950 when Bergen Belsen was closed and most Jewish DPs emigrated to Israel or to the USA.

In the post-war era Rose Henriques became actively involved in the British ORT organisation (ORT are the Russian initials of the Society for Spreading Artisan and Agricultural Work among Jews). She also served as chair of the British Society for the Protection of the Health of Jews; established work rooms for the elderly in East London; presided over the League of Jewish Women, the Association for the Welfare of the Physically Handicapped; the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Jewish Research Unit.

When Basil Henriques was knighted in 1955, Rose became Lady Henriques. She died in 1972.

Rose Henriques

Microfilms of the papers of the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad, 1943-1960, including sub-committees; papers on liaising with Central British Fund for Relief and Rehabilitation of German Jewry; Jewish Relief Unit in the field; co-operation with other organisations including American Joint Distribution Committee, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; reports on life for Jews in post-war Germany; reports on conditions in numerous displaced persons' camps including Bergen Belsen; papers regarding restitution; papers regarding anti-Semitism in post-war Germany and papers regarding emigration including to Palestine, USA and UK.

Original file structure retained.

Open

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

English and German

Microfilm

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.

Wiener Library

Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and Jewish Relief Unit: papers (ref: 1232)

Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

February 2008 Wars (events) American Joint Distribution Committee Antisemitism Bergen Belsen concentration camp x Belsen Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief x World Jewish Relief x Central British Fund for German Jewry x Council for German Jewry x Central Council for Jewish Refugees x Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation Concentration camps Conflict resolution Emigration Europe Henriques , Lady , Rose , 1889-1972 , social worker Humanitarian law International conflicts Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad Jewish emancipation Jewish Relief Unit Jews Liberation movements Middle East Migrants Migration Nazism North America Palestine Political doctrines Political movements Racial discrimination Refugees Religious groups Third Reich Totalitarianism UK United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration x UNRRA USA War crimes War reparations Western Europe World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) London England

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Rose Henriques

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Microfilms of the papers of the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad, 1943-1960, including sub-committees; papers on liaising with Central British Fund for Relief and Rehabilitation of German Jewry; Jewish Relief Unit in the field; co-operation with other organisations including American Joint Distribution Committee, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; reports on life for Jews in post-war Germany; reports on conditions in numerous displaced persons' camps including Bergen Belsen; papers regarding restitution; papers regarding anti-Semitism in post-war Germany and papers regarding emigration including to Palestine, USA and UK.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Original file structure retained.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English and German

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and Jewish Relief Unit: papers (ref: 1232)

Finding aids

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wiener Library

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area