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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
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Addlestone, Surrey
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Addlestone & District Jewish Congregation
(affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues)
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Amersham, Buckinghamshire
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Amersham United Synagogue Membership Group
(which later become the Amersham & Chesham United Synagogue Membership)
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Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
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Beaconsfield United Synagogue Membership Group
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Bedford, Bedfordshire
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Bedford Hebrew Congregation,
continued for some years after the war.
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Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
- Berkhamsted United Synagogue Membership Group
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Biggleswade and Shefford, Bedfordshire
- Biggleswade Hebrew Congregation
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Bletchley, Buckinghamshire
- Bletchley Hebrew Congregation
(affiliated to the UOHC)
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Burgess Hill, Sussex
- Burgess Hill Jewish congregation
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Buxton, Derbyshire
- Buxton Hebrew Congregation
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Chatteris, Cambridgeshire
- Chatteris Junior Synagogue
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Cheltenham, Gloustershire
- Cheltenham Synagogue,
founded 1823, but defunct by 1903. Re-established in 1939, still active.
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Chesham, Buckinghamshire
- Chesham Hebrew Congregation
(affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues)
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Cleveleys, Lancashire - see Thornton and Cleveleys
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Dorking, Surrey
- Dorking Hebrew Congregation
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Dunstable, Bedfordshire
- Dunstable United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Dunstable Synagogue, active until the 1950s.
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Egham, Surrey
- Egham Hebrew Congregation
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Ely, Cambridgeshire
- Ely Jewish Community
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Epsom, Surrey
- Epsom & District Synagogue,
active until 1993
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Felpham, Bognor Regis, Sussex
- Felpham & Middleton Hebrew Congregation
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Fleetwood, Lancashire
- Fleetwood Hebrew Congregation
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Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire -
Gerrards Cross & District United Synagogue Membership Group
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Guildford, Surrey -
Guildford United Synagogue Membership Group
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Hassocks, Sussex -
Hassocks Hebrew Congregation
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Haversham, Buckinghamshire - see Wolverton
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Hemel Hempstead, Buckinghamshire -
Hemel Hempstead United Synagogue Membership Group,
which develped into the Hemel Hempstead and District Hebrew Congregation, still active
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High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
- High Wycombe United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into High Wycombe Hebrew Congregation, active until about 2011.
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Hinckley, Leicestershire
- Hinckley Hebrew Congregation
(affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues), active until 1955
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Hitchin, Hertfordshire
- Hitchin Hebrew Congregation
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Hoylake, Merseyside (formerly Cheshire)
- Hoylake Hebrew Congregation,
active until 1980
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Huddersfield, Yorkshire
- Huddersfield Hebrew Congregation,
earlier congregation became defunct. Re-established about 1941, but defunct by 1960s.
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Ilfracombe, Devon
- Ilfracombe Hebrew Congregation
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Kettering, Northamptonshire
- Kettering United Synagogue Membership Group
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Letchworth, Hertfordshire
- Letchworth Hebrew Congregation
(affiliated to the Federation of Synagogues), active until 1972
- Letchworth Yeshurun Congregation
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Macclesfield, Cheshire
- Macclesfield United Synagogue Membership Group
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Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Maidenhead & District Hebrew Congregation,
orthodox congregation which developed into Maidenhead Synagogue, a reform congregation, still active
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Malvern, Worcestershire
- Malvern Hebrew Congregation
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Marlow, Buckinghamshire
- Marlow Hebrew Congregation
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Minehead, Somerset
- Minehead Jewish Community
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Newbury, Berkshire
- Newbury and District Hebrew Congregation
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Newmarket, Suffolk
- Newmarket Jewish Congregation
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Oxford, Oxfordshire
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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.
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Penrith, Cumbria (formerly Cumberland)
- Penrith, Keswick & District Hebrew Congregation
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Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Peterborough United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Peterborough Hebrew Congregation, still active.
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Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
- Rickmansworth & Croxley Green United Synagogue Membership Group
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St Albans, Hertfordshire
- St Albans United Synagogue Membership Group,
exact relationship with earlier congregation uncertain, active United Synagogue congregation.
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Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland
- Camp 4 Evacuee Gibraltarian Jewish Community, Saintfield
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Shefford, Bedfordshire - see Biggleswade
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Slough, Berkshire (formerly Buckinghamshire)
- Slough United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Slough and Windsor Affiliated Synagogue, active until about 1986.
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Staines, Surrey (formerly Middlesex)
- Staines, Egham & District United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Staines & District Synagogue, still
active.
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Stevenage, Hertfordshire
- Stevenage Hebrew Congregation
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Taunton, Somerset
- Taunton Jewish Community
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Thornton and Cleveleys, Lancashire
- Thornton-Cleveleys Synagogue
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Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire
- Tilehurst United Synagogue Membership Group
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Torquay, Devon
- Torquay United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Torquay and Paignton Hebrew Congregation, active until about 2000
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Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
- Welwyn Garden City United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Welwyn Garden City Synagogue, still active
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Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
- Weston-super-Mare Hebrew Congregation
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Wilmslow, Cheshire
- Wilmslow Jewish Community
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Winchester, Hampshire
- Winchester Jewish Community
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Windsor, Berkshire
- Windsor United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Slough and Windsor Affiliated Synagogue, active until about 1986
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Woking, Surrey
- Woking United Synagogue Membership Group
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Wolverton, Haversham, Buckinghamshire
- Wolverton United Synagogue Membership Group
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Worcester, Worcestershire
- Worcester United Synagogue Membership Group,
which developed into Worcester Hebrew Congregation, active until about 1970.
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Worthing, Sussex
- Worthing and District Hebrew Congregation,
active until the late 1970s.
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Bibliography
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Dr. Judith Grunfeld - Shefford: A Story of a Jewish School Community in Evacuation 1939-1945 (1980)
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Yanky Fachler - Jewish Letchworth: Microcosm of the Jewish Communal Experience (2023)
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Yanky Fachler - The Vow (2003, 2014)
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Helen Fry - Jews in North Devon During the Second World War (2005)
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Basil Jeuda - Macclesfield's Jews in World War Two (2016)
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Michael Rouse - Bernstein's Boys - The story of the Evacuation in 1939 of the Jews' Free School to Ely (2021)
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Vivien and Deborah Samson - The Rabbi in the Green Jacket: Memories of Jewish Buckinghamshire 1939-1945 (2015)
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List of Synagogues destroyed by German air raids during World War II
Page created: 10 September 2023
Page most recently amended: 4 August 2024
Formatting by David Shulman
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