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THE JEWISH COMMUNITY ON
THE ISLE OF MAN
The Isle of Man
The Isle of Man
(in the Manx language: Ellan Vannin) is an island situated in the Irish Sea,
roughly equidistant from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Although it is not
technically part of the United Kingdom (it does not send a representative to
the Parliament in Westminster), it is a British crown dependency and the
British monarch is Lord of Man.
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Photographs (courtesy
Steven Jaffe) of panels displayed on Queens Promenade,
Douglas, portraying the internment of "enemy aliens"
(many of them Jews) during both World Wars. Click
HERE for background to the panel displays. Click on
a
photograph to view an enlarge image in a new window. |
The Jewish Community
In addition to the small resident Jewish community on
the island, a large number of Jews were among those interned on the Isle of Man
during both World Wars as so-called 'enemy aliens', in particular Jewish
prisoners of war in World War I and Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria during World War II.
Jewish Congregation Data |
The following are details of the only Jewish congregation
to have existed on the island, situated in
the capital, Douglas (in the Manx language: Doolish): |
Name: |
Isle of Man Hebrew Congregation
also now known as the Manx Hebrew Congregation |
Address: |
The congregation does not have a synagogue building and meets in members' homes in Douglas. Special
events are held in hired halls. |
Formation: |
The congregation was founded in about 1927.(vi)
However, according to the Jewish Year Book
1938:
"There is no Hebrew Congregation, but a New Year service is arranged if it occurs early.
There are only two or three resident Jewish families during the winter."
The Isle of Man then ceased to be listed in Jewish Year Books until the
1960s.(vii) |
Current Status: |
Active,(viii) but meetings are held on an
irregular basis, as well as special events, such as the community's own Holocaust Memorial Day.(ix) |
Ritual: |
Orthodox - Ashkenazi |
Affiliation: |
None known |
Ministers: |
It appears that the only resident minister appointed by the congregation was
Rev. L. Kelman, from Manchester, who was appointed as chazan,
shochet and teacher in June 1927, serving for only a short period.(xi)
In 1928,
Rev. A. Reiss
officiated, presumably as visiting minister, at the high holy-day
services.(xii)
Rev. Chaim Zack
was a young visiting minister to the Jewish internees on the island at
the beginning of World War II (xiii)
From the 1970,
Rev. Malcolm Weisman,
the minister for the small communities, attended from time to time as
visiting minister.(xiv) |
Lay Officers:(xv) |
President
1927 - Mr. Hyman(xvii)
Chairmen
1978-1984 - Matty Rivlin
1984-1988 - Jack Beech
Treasurers
1928 - F. Jacobs(xviii)
1979-1984 - L. Becker
1984-1988 - R. Brunswick
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Hon. Secretaries
1927 - T. Roth(xix)
1930s - L. Abels(xx)
1962-1978 - Samuel Coplan(xxi)
1978-1982 - Mrs. I. Solomons
1982-1984 - Jack Beech
1984-1988 - Leonard M. Simons
1988-1989 - Mrs. I. Solomons
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From 1990 Matty Rivlin, Leonard M. Simons and
Carol Jempson are, respectively, given as the contact for
enquiries regarding the congregation.(xxii) |
Membership Data: |
Reports & Survey(xxiii)
1983 - 30 male (or household) members and an estimated 30 female members.
1990 - 25 members (comprising 18 households, 2 individual male and 5 individual female members).
1996 - 22 members (comprising 7 households, 6 individual male and 9 individual female members).
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World War II Internment Camp Synagogues: |
During World War II,
the Internment Camps on the Island, in particular the Hutchinson Camp
in Douglas noted as the "artists' camp" due to its thriving artistic and intellectual life,
contained many German and Austrian Jewish refugees who had come to
the United Kingdom to escape Nazi persecution. The first internees
arrived in May 1940 and within a short while Jewish internees set up
their own synagogues. One was the Central Promenade Camp Synagogue in
the ballroom of the Lido Dance Hall and another was a makeshift
synagogue in a Nissen hut in the Onchan Internment Camp. |
On-line Articles and
other Material relating to the Jewish Community and Jewish
Internees on the Isle of Man
on JCR-UK
on third parties' websites
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Isle of Man National Heritage Museum (iMuseum), the
Archives now include over 12,000 internment
images of which 3,000 show life at the camp, including photographs
of many named individual internees (for example, try searching
the word "Jewish"). In addition, the
People (Family History) section, includes all
World War I internees, and certain World War II are being gradually
added.
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AJR (Association of Jewish Refugees) Journal:
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Second World War internee records
on the Isle of Man,
article by Alan Franklin:
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Part 1 in Volume 8 No. 2, February 2008 (pp.
5,11), pdf.
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Part 2 in Volume 8 No. 3, March 2008 (pp.
5,10), pdf.
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1940-2010: The Individual and Family Legacy of WW2 Internment as it
Relates to the Isle of Man - A Guide to Aid Personal Research
by Alan Franklin, published in Volume 10 No. 6, June
2010 (pp. 4,5,9,10), pdf.
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Manx Jews Cling
on to Island Life, article by Josh Jackman, published in the
Jewish Chronicle 19 May 2016
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Imprisoned on the Isle of Man: Jewish
Refugees Classified as Enemy Aliens, article by Cheryl
Kempler, published in B'nai B'rith Magazine 19 September 2016.
Notable Jewish Connections with the Isle of Man
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Albert Gubay (1928-2016) born in Rhyl, north Wales, to an Iraqi Jewish father and Irish Catholic mother,
made a fortune with the Kwik Save retail chain that he founded and in property development.
He lived on the Isle of Man from 1971 and became a major philanthropist.
In particular, he supported the Catholic church and in 2011 was awarded a Papal knighthood.
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Leonard Ian Singer (1943-2023),
Manchester-born pharmacist and politician, was the first Jew to sit in Tynwald (the Manx parliament).
He served as a member of House of Keys (the lower chamber)
representing Ramsey (1996-2003, 2011-2016) and of the upper
chamber Legislative Council (2003-2006) and was largely
responsible for the island instituting its own Holocaust Memorial Day, the first of which took place in 2001.
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Some
notable World War II lay Jewish or part-Jewish internees interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940:(xxxi)
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Bruno Ahrends (1878-1948), born Bruno Arons, an internationally known architect,
who was born into a Jewish family in Berlin,
but converted to Christianity. He was not released from Hutchinson
until April 1942.
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Gerhard Bersu (1889-1964), renowned prehistoric archaeologist and former director of the German Archaeological Institute,
born in Jauer, Silesia (now in Poland) to a Jewish father.
He was interned in the Hutchinson Camp and later (together with his wife) at Rushen Camp, from mid 1940 to
May 1941.
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Hermann Fechenbach (1897-1986), painter and
graphic artist born into a Jewish family in Württemberg, Germany,
interned until 1941.
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Carl Felkel (1896-1980), society
portraitist artist born in Stockerau, near Vienna, interned until
August 1940.
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Hans G. Furth (1920-1999), developmental
psychologist who became a professor in the Faculty of Psychology
of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Although
born to Jewish parents in Vienna, he was baptized into the
Catholic Church at the age of 16. Interned until May 1941.
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Dr. Max Grunhut (1893-1964), born in Magdeburg,
Prussia, legal scholar and criminologist and former professor at
Bonn University of Bonn and later taught at the University of
Oxford, becoming one of the most important British criminologists
of his era. Interned until October 1940.
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Paul Hamann (1891-1973), internationally renowned
sculptor and photographer, born in Hamburg into a part-Jewish
family, Interned until January 1941.
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Erich Kahn (1904–1979), graphic artist and
expressionist painter, born in Stuttgart, interned until February
1941.
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Dr. Paul Maas (1880-1964), a classical philologist,
born in Frankfurt-am-Main, who co-founded the field of textual criticism
and was a former professor at Berlin University and the University of Konigsberg.
He later taught at Oxford University. Interned until August 1941.
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Ernst Stern (1876-1954), a celebrated scenic designer, born in Bucharest, Romania, to Jewish parents of Russian, German and Hungarian origin,
interned until September 1940.
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Fred Uhlman (1901-1985), painter and
writer, born in Stuttgart, interned until December 1940.
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Egon Joseph Wellesz, CBE, FBA (1885-1974),
composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the
field of Byzantine music, born in Vienna to Hungarian Jewish
parents who had become practicing Christians. Interned until
October 1940.
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Dr. Gunther Zuntz (1902-1992), Berlin born
classical philologist, Hellenistic Greek and Bible scholar, who
became a professor at the University of Manchester, interned until
October 1940.
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Rabbis interned on the
Isle of Man during World War II:
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Rabbi Isidor Broch came to Britain
from Berlin as a refugee and was interned in 1940.
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Rabbi Professor Julius Carlebach came to Britain
on the kindertransport and was briefly interned in 1940.
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Rabbi Dr. Chaim Cohn, escaped to London
from Germany via Switzerland and was interned in 1940.
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Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner came to Britain in 1938
and was interned from mid 1940
until about 1941.
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Rabbi Max Eschelbacher came to Britain in 1939
and was interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940
until August 1940.
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Rabbi Asher Feuchtwanger
arrived to Britain in 1937. In 1940, he was interned, initially on the Isle of Man and then shipped
to Australia aboard the infamous HMT Dunera.
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Rabbi Dr. Paul Holzer fled to Britain in 1939 and was interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940
until December 1940.
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Dayan Dr. Julius Jakobovits fled to Britain following
Kristallnacht and was briefly interned on the Isle of Man in 1940.
He was the father of future Chief Rabbi, Lord Immanuel Jakobovits.
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Rabbi Ferdinand Lok (b. 11 October 1917), interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940 until July 1941.
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Rabbi Dr. Gustav Pfingst fled to Britain in about 1939 and was interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940
until January 1941, when he was released on nedical grownds.
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Rabbi Jakob Roth (b. 10 April 1888), also a baker, interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940 until
May 1941.
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Rabbi Dr. Theodor Weisz fled to Britain in about 1939 and was interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940
until January 1941. Acted as camp rabbi.
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Rabbi David Alexander Winter came to Britain in 1938 and was interned in the Hutchinson Internment Camp from mid 1940
until August 1940.
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Isle of Man Jewish Cemetery Information
During both World Wars, so-called 'enemy aliens' were
interned on the Isle of Man. These included prisoners-of-war
as well as German and Austrian refugees, many of whom were
Jewish. A number of these died and were buried on the
island.
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Douglas Borough Cemetery, Jewish Section,
Glencrutchery Road, Douglas, IM2 - This is the only
consecrated Jewish cemetery on the island, situated on
the north-east corner of the main municipal cemetery.
Burials date from 1940, a majority of those interred
having been refugees interned on the island.
Click here to see
a list of 73
burials,
in browsable form, at the cemetery (plus two at
Knockaloe - see below). (Records also on All-UK
Database, as above)
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Kirk Patrick Churchyard, Knockaloe - This
churchyard cemetery includes two simple military-style
Jewish gravestones dating from World War I. See
Two
Graves from Knockaloe by Harold Pollins. (Records on
JOWBR, under "Isle of Man".)
(For additional information, see also
IAJGS International Jewish Cemetery Project - Isle of Man) |
Isle
of Man Jewish Population Data
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1962 |
c.30 |
(The Jewish Year
Book 1963) |
1978 |
c.40 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1979) |
1983 |
c.65 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1984) |
1984 |
c.75 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1985) |
1988 |
c.60 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1989) |
1989 |
c.75 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1990) |
1990 |
c.50 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1991) |
1994 |
c.25 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1995) |
1996 |
c.35 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1997) |
Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above) |
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Page created by David Shulman: 21 August 2005
Page redesigned by Louise Messik: November 2011
Page enhanced and notes
and internees added: 7 February 2024
Page most recently amended: 4 August 2024
Research and current fomatting by David Shulman
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