World War II Evacuee Communities

With the outbreak of war in 1939, the UK government initiated an evacuation plan designed to protect the civilian population, especially children (under the name "Operation Pied Piper"), from the risk of enemy aerial bombardment of major population centres by moving them to areas thought to be less at risk. In addition, in many instances, whole families self evacuated to escape the German Blitz.

The majority of Britain's Jews at the time lived in poor densely populated neighbourhoods of the major cities, in particular the East End of London, which was also close to the London Dockland, a prime target for the Luftwaffe bombers. Accordingly, many Jews were among those evacuated to these safer areas. In many instances the numbers were supplemented by recently arrived Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution, including in some cases children who reached Britain on Kindertransport. With the move of these relatively small country towns, most of which had not previously had Jewish inhabitants, the new arrival set up their own communal organisations and congregation, intended to be of a temporary nature, although some continued to exist for some time after the cessation of hostilities.

In particular, the United Synagogue, in recognising the needs of these evacuees, established over 20 new affiliated temporary "congregations", known as Membership Groups, primarily in the home counties and southern England. Most of the other evacuee congregations were unaffiliated, although a few were affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues or the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC).

The table below lists those evacuee congregations established during World War II.

Evacuee Congregations

Addlestone, Surrey
- Addlestone & District Jewish Congregation (affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues)
Amersham, Buckinghamshire
- Amersham United Synagogue Membership Group (which later become the Amersham & Chesham United Synagogue Membership)
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
- Beaconsfield United Synagogue Membership Group
Bedford, Bedfordshire
- Bedford Hebrew Congregation, continued for some years after the war.
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
- Berkhamsted United Synagogue Membership Group
Biggleswade and Shefford, Bedfordshire
- Biggleswade Hebrew Congregation
Bletchley, Buckinghamshire
- Bletchley Hebrew Congregation (affiliated to the UOHC)
Burgess Hill, Sussex
- Burgess Hill Jewish congregation
Buxton, Derbyshire
- Buxton Hebrew Congregation
Chatteris, Cambridgeshire
- Chatteris Junior Synagogue
Cheltenham, Gloustershire
- Cheltenham Synagogue, founded 1823, but defunct by 1903. Re-established in 1939, still active.
Chesham, Buckinghamshire
- Chesham Hebrew Congregation (affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues)
Cleveleys, Lancashire - see Thornton and Cleveleys
Dorking, Surrey
- Dorking Hebrew Congregation
Dunstable, Bedfordshire
- Dunstable United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Dunstable Synagogue, active until the 1950s.
Egham, Surrey
- Egham Hebrew Congregation
Ely, Cambridgeshire
- Ely Jewish Community
Epsom, Surrey
- Epsom & District Synagogue, active until 1993
Felpham, Bognor Regis, Sussex
- Felpham & Middleton Hebrew Congregation
Fleetwood, Lancashire
- Fleetwood Hebrew Congregation
Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire
- Gerrards Cross & District United Synagogue Membership Group
Guildford, Surrey
- Guildford United Synagogue Membership Group
Hassocks, Sussex
- Hassocks Hebrew Congregation
Haversham, Buckinghamshire - see Wolverton
Hemel Hempstead, Buckinghamshire
- Hemel Hempstead United Synagogue Membership Group, which develped into the Hemel Hempstead and District Hebrew Congregation, still active
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
- High Wycombe United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into High Wycombe Hebrew Congregation, active until about 2011.
Hinckley, Leicestershire
- Hinckley Hebrew Congregation (affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues), active until 1955
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
- Hitchin Hebrew Congregation
Hoylake, Merseyside (formerly Cheshire)
- Hoylake Hebrew Congregation, active until 1980
Huddersfield, Yorkshire
- Huddersfield Hebrew Congregation, earlier congregation became defunct. Re-established about 1941, but defunct by 1960s.
Ilfracombe, Devon
- Ilfracombe Hebrew Congregation
Kettering, Northamptonshire
- Kettering United Synagogue Membership Group
Letchworth, Hertfordshire
- Letchworth Hebrew Congregation (affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues), active until 1972
- Letchworth Yeshurun Congregation
Macclesfield, Cheshire
- Macclesfield United Synagogue Membership Group
Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Maidenhead & District Hebrew Congregation, orthodox congregation which developed into Maidenhead Synagogue, a reform congregation, still active
Malvern, Worcestershire
- Malvern Hebrew Congregation
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
- Marlow Hebrew Congregation
Minehead, Somerset
- Minehead Jewish Community
Newbury, Berkshire
- Newbury and District Hebrew Congregation
Newmarket, Suffolk
- Newmarket Jewish Congregation
Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Cowley and Iffley Minyan, as well as congregations in Headington, which fell under the authority of the Oxford Jewish Congregation, itself greatly increased by refugees and evacuees.
Penrith, Cumbria (formerly Cumberland)
- Penrith, Keswick & District Hebrew Congregation
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Peterborough United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Peterborough Hebrew Congregation, still active.
Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
- Rickmansworth & Croxley Green United Synagogue Membership Group
St Albans, Hertfordshire
- St Albans United Synagogue Membership Group, exact relationship with earlier congregation uncertain, active United Synagogue congregation.
Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland
- Camp 4 Evacuee Gibraltarian Jewish Community, Saintfield
Shefford, Bedfordshire - see Biggleswade
Slough, Berkshire (formerly Buckinghamshire)
- Slough United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Slough and Windsor Affiliated Synagogue, active until about 1986.
Staines, Surrey (formerly Middlesex)
- Staines, Egham & District United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Staines & District Synagogue, still active.
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
- Stevenage Hebrew Congregation
Taunton, Somerset
- Taunton Jewish Community
Thornton and Cleveleys, Lancashire
- Thornton-Cleveleys Synagogue
Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire
- Tilehurst United Synagogue Membership Group
Torquay, Devon
- Torquay United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Torquay and Paignton Hebrew Congregation, active until about 2000
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
- Welwyn Garden City United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Welwyn Garden City Synagogue, still active
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
- Weston-super-Mare Hebrew Congregation
Winchester, Hampshire
- Winchester Jewish Community
Windsor, Berkshire
- Windsor United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Slough and Windsor Affiliated Synagogue, active until about 1986
Woking, Surrey
- Woking United Synagogue Membership Group
Wolverton, Haversham, Buckinghamshire
- Wolverton United Synagogue Membership Group
Worcester, Worcestershire
- Worcester United Synagogue Membership Group, which developed into Worcester Hebrew Congregation, active until about 1970.
Worthing, Sussex
- Worthing and District Hebrew Congregation, active until the late 1970s.

Bibliography

Dr. Judith Grunfeld - Shefford: A Story of a Jewish School Community in Evacuation 1939-1945 (1980)
Yanky Fachler - Jewish Letchworth: Microcosm of the Jewish Communal Experience (2023)
Yanky Fachler - The Vow (2003, 2014)
Helen Fry - Jews in North Devon During the Second World War (2005)
Basil Jeuda - Macclesfield's Jews in World War Two (2016)
Michael Rouse - Bernstein's Boys - The story of the Evacuation in 1939 of the Jews' Free School to Ely (2021)
Vivien and Deborah Samson - The Rabbi in the Green Jacket: Memories of Jewish Buckinghamshire 1939-1945 (2015)

List of Synagogues destroyed by German air raids during World War II

Page created: 10 September 2023
Page most recently amended: 18 April 2024

Formatting by David Shulman

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