History of Jews in Kingston upon Hull facts for kids
Kingston upon Hull, a city on England's East Coast, became a very important port by 1750. It was a main entry point into Britain for traders and people moving to the country, second only to London. Around this time, some Jewish families from Germany and Holland came to Hull. They sold jewelry and traded goods in the busy port and market town. They kept in touch with Europe, London, and other towns, especially in the North.
This small Jewish community created its own groups and leaders. They faced challenges like anti-Jewish feelings and later, many Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe. The community worked hard to help new Jewish arrivals, most of whom were planning to go to America. But some decided to stay in Hull. They did very well in shops and other businesses, and the community grew to over 2,500 people.
Even though they were probably never more than 1% of Hull's population, the Jewish people of Hull made a big difference to the city and the wider world by the end of the 20th century. Many famous people came from Hull's Jewish community. These included several Lord Mayors and Sheriffs of Hull, three Fellows of the Royal Society (top scientists), the person who started the world's biggest furniture company, many doctors and lawyers, and the actress Dame Maureen Lipman. You can find more names on the List of Jews from Kingston upon Hull.
Contents
Jewish Life and Traditions
Just like in other places, Jewish people in Hull met for Hebrew prayers and to arrange for kosher meat. They often started synagogues quickly. Over time, Jewish people from Eastern Europe (Ashkenazim) and Dutch Jews (Sephardim) married each other. This helped bring together different groups that used to be rivals.
Connecting with Jewish communities in London and other towns was always important. For a while, many Jewish people in Hull were not rich. They often earned a living by pawnbroking, dealing in valuable items, jewelry, and later, silver, gold, and watches. They also imported goods. As they became more successful, they built nicer synagogues, had better access to kosher food, and became more involved in charity work and city life.
Many new people came to Hull, escaping hardship in Russia. They arrived through ports on the North Sea and Baltic Sea. These newcomers were skilled workers like tailors, shoemakers, and furniture makers. Jewish families who were already settled in Hull helped those who were struggling in small homes near the docks. As more families arrived, new synagogues were built. Jewish life in Hull reflected the quiet traditions and Yiddish language of the old Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This culture was sadly destroyed by wars and changes in power. More refugees arrived during the two World Wars. The severe bombing of Hull during World War II, known as the Hull Blitz, and the creation of Israel, made the community feel even closer. Local Jewish entertainers also helped boost spirits.
Over time, Jewish people in Hull have chosen different ways of life. Some follow Jewish traditions strictly, others have blended more into wider society, and some live secular lives. Like other Jewish communities in smaller cities, many have moved away for careers or family reasons. They have spread across the UK and to other countries. In 2016, the Hull community celebrated its 250-year history. This history is kept in archives, books, and online.
How the Community Grew
The Jewish community in Hull started in the busy Old Town. There were about 40 Jewish people in 1793, growing to 60 in 1815, and 200 by 1835. Some also traded in nearby towns like Beverley and York. The community later moved west, around Hessle Road, Anlaby Road, and Beverley Road. It centered on Porter Street and the fancier Coltman Street.
Many young immigrants kept arriving, especially from the mid-1800s. They settled around Osborne Street, making the community grow to over 300 by 1851, 550 in 1870, and 2,000 by 1900. These families also moved further out along the same main roads, especially after the bombing during the Hull Blitz. Old houses and shops in Hull were badly damaged by German planes. Later, many old areas were cleared to build new ones. Cars also made it easier for more Jewish families to live in the western suburbs outside the city, like Anlaby, Kirk Ella, Willerby, Hessle, and Ferriby.
After World War II, most Jewish people in Hull were born there. The community reached its largest size, with 2,500 to 3,000 people. This included some who were not officially counted by synagogues or in the census. Jewish people were only about 1% of Hull's population. Over time, many have moved away or blended into wider society. Most have gone to London, Manchester, Leeds, and Israel. Now, there are 200 or fewer Jewish people in the Hull area, mostly older people.
Early History of Jewish People in Hull
Before the 1700s
Before Jewish people were expelled from England in 1290, Jewish leaders in Lincoln and York loaned money to nearby ports. Some of their agents, who were Jewish, are recorded in Grimsby and Hedon (which is now near Hull), and in Beverley. These leaders also traded or received payments in wool, just like Jacob de Hedon.
Nearby, Meaux Abbey, a large wool producer, bought lands that owed money to these Jewish lenders. The Abbey also borrowed from them for building projects. At the same time, the Abbey helped develop the Hull river-mouth into a major center for wool merchants from England and Europe. However, unlike a Jewish community in Newcastle that existed until 1234, we don't know of any Jewish people living in the early port of Hull.
Oliver Cromwell defended Hull during the English Civil War. In 1656, he began allowing Jewish people to resettle in England. Some old stories claim Jewish people were in Hull around 1700, but experts say these are not true. Records suggest the first Jewish settlers came to Hull sometime after 1700.
First Settlers
The first known Jewish person to arrive was Israel Benjamin in 1734. He claimed to have converted to another religion and later died in Leeds. After this, during a time when Jewish people faced hardship in Europe, records show that Jews came to Hull from Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Poland, and the Baltic region. They were often heading for larger Northern towns or London. Some claimed to be converts to avoid trouble.
Merchants also came from other English ports because Hull had a special Naval Prize Court during the Napoleonic Wars. Traders settled around the Holy Trinity Church marketplace. In Hull, Jewish people were legally free to set up businesses. They ran many stalls and shops there until the late 1960s.
In 1766, Isaac Levy of Church Lane was the first recorded Jewish resident. He started one of many families of jewelers and watchmakers. Others soon followed in the streets near the Marketplace. In 1788, Aaron Jacobs, a jeweler and silversmith, decorated the statue of William III with an elegant crown for a celebration. His family later included synagogue presidents and clockmakers. As some Jewish people started new businesses like market stalls and general trading, there were also Jewish barbers (Abraham Levis, 1791), shoemakers (Michael Levy, 1812), tailors (Henry Levy, 1812), and furniture makers (Henry Meyer, 1826). In 1822, Joseph Levi sold quills and pencils, and Samuel Lazarus was a hatmaker. In 1831, Joseph Jacobs ran a coffee house, and in 1834, Baruchson and Fawcett imported and sold cigars.
Community Leaders and Success
Moses Symons, who dealt in gold and silver and made watches, was a Navy Agent. In 1810, he helped start the Humber Lodge of Freemasons. Elias Hart, a synagogue president and silversmith, later became the Master of this lodge.
Bethel Jacobs (1812–1869) was a generous person and a leader in the community. His father and father-in-law were also community leaders. Bethel became Master of the Humber Lodge and a Town Councillor, as well as president of the synagogue. He returned from his studies in Leipzig to work at his father's silversmith and clockmaking business. He was a talented inventor and a great speaker. He was president of the Hull Literary & Philosophical Society and the Mechanics' Institute. He led Hull at the Great Exhibition in 1851. He also helped bring the British Association for the Advancement of Science to Hull in 1853. After Queen Victoria and Prince Albert stayed at the Station Hotel in 1854, Bethel became Jeweller to Her Majesty. He later became a Lieutenant in the Hull Volunteer Rifle Corps and president of Hull's Royal Institution. In 1861, he founded Hull College of Art.
Simeon Mosely (1815–1888) was a well-known dental surgeon. He was also a synagogue president, a Town Councillor, and a captain in the local volunteer group. In 1864, he founded the Kingston Lodge. Solomon Cohen (1827–1907), a clothier born in Sheffield and a synagogue president, was a Hull Town Councillor from 1870. He later became an Alderman, chairman of the Hull School Board, and president of the Hull Guardian Society.
You can find more information in the Businesses section and on the List of Jews from Kingston upon Hull.
The Great Migration
Moving to New Homes
During the Victorian era, England had few rules about refugees, so more people arrived in ports. This increased even more after the revolutions in Europe in 1848. It was also made easier by new ways of travel like steamships and trains. Millions of Jewish people left mainland Europe between 1850 and 1914, traveling directly by large ships to America. However, shipping companies like the Wilson Line helped over two million people of all backgrounds travel through Hull's docks and railways. Up to a million also passed through Grimsby. This indirect route was much cheaper. For those who followed strict kosher eating rules, the shorter sea journeys were also less stressful.
About one in four of the people who passed through Hull were Jewish. They were heading to places like New York or Buenos Aires, as well as to South Africa and other British towns. A growing number of young, Yiddish-speaking Jewish people were leaving the Russian Empire. They faced rules about work, special taxes, and forced military service for boys, which led to many leaving. Violent anti-Jewish riots, called pogroms, started after 1881. These were even reported in Hull. A famine in 1891–1892 also caused more people to leave the Russian Empire into the new century.
Journey to Hull
People often hoped to find a welcoming "New Jerusalem" (a new, better home). Their relatives who had already moved often sent letters with helpful information. Jewish people often moved in groups, especially from Lithuanian towns, through the Baltic Sea to ports in Northern England. However, tickets to Hull were sometimes booked through dishonest agents. Husbands or eldest sons usually left first. They made difficult journeys across borders by foot, cart, and train to Hamburg and Bremen, or Baltic ports like Libau and Riga.
Larger ships on the Baltic Sea crossed the dangerous Kattegat. After 1895, the Kiel Canal opened, making the journey easier before continuing to Hull (or Grimsby, or Goole). Migrants carried a little kosher food, like herring with old bread. They boarded cargo or cattle boats, spending several cramped nights on straw, wooden boards, or moving decks. Conditions were sometimes dirty and unsafe. In 1845, a storm claimed 26 ships off Holland. The crew of a Hull-bound cargo steamer survived by tying themselves to the rigging overnight, but all 16 passengers died. They were Polish Jews, mostly poor traveling jewelers and families. Among the bodies were a mother and five children, and a man reportedly holding an open prayer book. Death and disease were common among the migrants.
Some people lost their luggage or had no tickets for their onward journey. Many arrived with nothing. When they landed, many walked into the Old Town to temporary places to stay, like Harry Lazarus Hotel on Posterngate. Most then went west, past Osborne Street to Anlaby Road, which was busy with horse-drawn traffic. They crossed to the separate Emigrant Waiting Room. This room was built in 1871 by the North Eastern Railway. A kosher kitchen and washing rooms were added later. Today, it is a listed building and is now a pub called the Tigers Lair. Behind it, Platform 13 of Paragon Station had extra-long trains on Mondays or Wednesdays, heading for Leeds and Liverpool. London, Southampton, and Glasgow were also common destinations. From 1885, the new Alexandra Dock had a railway hall by the water, which was used until 1908–1909.
Staying or Moving On
Most migrants from the "Old Country" only passed through Hull. However, many stayed, either on purpose or by chance, for days, weeks, or even years. Often, young men stayed temporarily with Jewish families in narrow streets. They borrowed money to work as street sellers, and later became successful jewelers and watch dealers. For some who stayed, their grown children later continued the journey. For example, Benjamin Hart, born in Hull in 1869, sailed for America in 1912 but was lost on the Titanic. He put his wife and young daughter, Eva Hart, into a lifeboat. Eva lived to be 91 years old and was possibly the last survivor who remembered the Titanic disaster.
Community Groups and Support
Many active Jewish groups were started in Hull. These included local branches of national and even international organizations. They all had leaders and committees chosen from the community. We will talk about some of them here. Raising money for charity was a very important part of social life for many years.
Helping Those in Need
Because Hull was a major port, its Jewish community has a long history of helping both residents and new immigrants. The Philanthropic Society, founded in 1848, was one of the first volunteer groups. It ran soup kitchens and clothing shelters, and gave money to poor people and travelers. In 1854, money was collected for poor Jewish people in Palestine. Women were helped by the Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society, started in 1861. In 1869, general funds were set up to help poor, sick, and dying immigrants, and poor residents in winter. In the 20th century, other groups included the Hull Jewish Blind Society and an Orphan Aid Society.
Various charities joined together to form the Hull Hebrew Board of Guardians in 1880. At that time, they helped 1,646 people. About 100 years later, it was renamed Hull Jewish Care. This group had a home for older people on Anlaby Road from the 1950s until 2013. In 1909, John Symons left £20,000 to create a home for sick and poor people in Hull. Charles Jacobs and his son Lord Mayor AK Jacobs also created the Jacobs Homes for the elderly on Askew Avenue through their wills.
Social Activities
The Hull Hebrew Literary & Debating Society was started in 1895 for readings and music. The Jewish Girls Club was founded in 1900, and The City Club on Wright Street was founded in 1901. The Hull Judeans, started in 1919, later became part of the Maccabi World Union. They organized sports like cricket, football, table-tennis, and swimming. For older people, the Hull Jewish Friendship Club began in the mid-20th century. The Jewish Institute on Anlaby Road, which later became a nightclub, served many community purposes. The Parkfield Centre, which later became a Sikh Temple, also served the community from 1973.
Religious Life
By the 1930s, one community burial society, called Chevra Kadisha, was run by the different synagogues. The Hull Board of Shechita also organized the supply of kosher food. The synagogues themselves are also set up as charities. You can read more about them in the Synagogues section.
Political Involvement
The Hull B'nai B'rith groups for men, women, and youth helped connect with other communities, including Israel. After World War II, the Hull Jewish Representative Council handled political issues. They later published Hull's Jewish Watchman newsletter.
Jack Lennard, who made fruit machines, started the Hull Council for Soviet Jewry and the Wilberforce Council for Human Rights. He also created the Hull Jewish Archive.
Synagogues
Before the 20th Century
A story about a synagogue supposedly torn down in 1700 on Dagger Lane in the Old Town is not believed to be true.
In 1780, a mob attacked a Catholic chapel on Posterngate, which was near Dagger Lane. This chapel was rebuilt and rented out as a "neat and convenient" synagogue for 25 to 30 people. In 1809, a larger, competing synagogue was founded at 7 Parade Row (later removed for Prince's Dock). It was started by Joseph Lyon (around 1765–1812), a respected and wealthy pawnbroker, clothier, and silversmith. Lyon paid for Samuel Simon to be the minister.
In 1825, Solomon Meyer and Israel Jacobs, who were synagogue presidents, led the Posterngate and Parade Row groups to join together. They formed the Hull Hebrew Congregation at 7 Robinson Row. This new synagogue was officially opened in 1827. It was paid for by the Great London Synagogue and a loan. The new shul (synagogue) had 100 seats and a covered path from the narrow street. It was rebuilt around 1851–1852 under the leadership of Bethel Jacobs. It had a Greek style with stained glass and seated 200 men and 80 women in a special gallery. But by 1900, it was too crowded.
20th Century Synagogues
For over 200 years, disagreements among congregations usually ended peacefully. However, conflicts with newcomers led established families in 1902 to build the Western Synagogue on Linnaeus Street. It could hold over 600 people. This new building was in a Byzantine style, designed by BS Jacobs, Bethel's son. The remaining Jewish people from Robinson Row moved in 1903 to a new building on Osborne Street, which was then the main Jewish area. This synagogue had decorated entrances and later facilities. It seated 350 men and 350 women upstairs.
Around 1870, Russian Jews gathered near School Street. In 1887, this became the "Hull Central Hebrew Congregation" on Waltham Street. Some joined Osborne Street in 1903. The rest founded the Cogan Street synagogue in 1914, using a renovated old chapel that could hold 950 people. In 1928, a disagreement among rabbis happened in the newspapers about bones found in its crypt. These bones were only re-buried in 1946 after the Cogan Street shul was bombed in 1940. The Central Congregation moved to West Parade, and in 1951, to 94 Park Street. It closed in 1976 and merged with the Linnaeus Street synagogue.
The Fischoff Synagogue on Lower Union Street, opened in 1928 by Lord Rothschild, closed during the Hull Blitz in 1941. There were other synagogues that only lasted a short time.
The Osborne Street shul was also destroyed in the 1941 Hull Blitz. But it was rebuilt after World War II. It was sold in 1989 and later became part of a nightclub. The congregation joined with the Linnaeus Street synagogue. They moved to new premises on Pryme Street, Anlaby, which were officially opened in 1995.
Synagogues Today
As of 2021, the active synagogues are the Hull Hebrew Congregation (Ashkenazi Orthodox) on Pryme Street, Anlaby. The Reform Hull Reform Synagogue, called Ne've Shalom, opened in 1992 in Willerby. This was 25 years after the Reform Congregation was formed. Thanks to the efforts of community leader and historian Jack Lennard, the Linnaeus Street shul is now a listed building, meaning it's protected for its historical importance. It is now an office.
Rabbis and Leaders
Salis Daiches, from a family of Rabbis in Lithuania, served Hull until 1907. He later became a leading Rabbi in Edinburgh. Rabbi Mordechai Schwartz, in Hull since 1920, published sermons and a book in 1926. Rabbi Samuel Brod (arrived Hull 1898, died 1938) published a book of articles on the Talmud in 1931.
Rabbi Louis Miller was the minister of the Hull Western Synagogue and headmaster of its Hebrew School from 1920–1930. Eliezer Simcha Rabinowitz was also from a rabbinical family. As Hull's Minister in 1953, he became the first official communal Rabbi of Hull (1956–1959). Rabbi Chaim Joshua Cooper (1917–1999), born in London, was known for his intelligence. He was Hull's communal Jewish leader from 1960 and was active into the 1990s.
Samuel Simon was the earliest minister, serving from the 1820s to 1866. Rev. Isaac Hart taught at the school around 1870. Abraham Elzas, who was educated in Holland, was a minister and headmaster of the Hebrew school. He also published translations of several Bible books.
Other respected ministers included Revs. Harry Abrahams and Judah Levinson of Osborne Street, and Revs. Joshua Freedberg, David Hirsch, and Hyman Davies of Linnaeus Street.
Each synagogue had many leaders over the years, including presidents, vice-presidents, treasurers, and secretaries. Some individuals and families held these roles for decades. However, it was often the modest shammes (caretaker) who was the most familiar face, like Harry Westerman at Linnaeus Street.
Ritual Baths
The first ritual bath for Jewish women (mikvah) outside London may have been in Hull from 1845. A mikvah definitely opened on Trippett Street in 1850. This was replaced in 1866 by one on George Street, and in 1919 by one in a local nunnery that was changed for this purpose. This last one was used into the 1980s. There is a mikvah at the Pryme Street Synagogue, which was finished in 2010.
Cemeteries
Hull has five known Orthodox Jewish cemeteries and one newer Reform cemetery. There are about 2,500 burials in total.
From around 1780, a small plot at West Dock Terrace was used for burials until the last one in 1812. George Alexander, a community leader, and the Levy family then opened a site on Hessle Road. This was used until 1858. It is next to the Alexandra Hotel, which has Star of David symbols in its windows, showing it was once a Jewish area. This cemetery holds Israel Jacobs and Barnard Barnard, a jeweler and watchmaker.
In East Hull is the larger Delhi Street site, opened in 1858. The earliest graves were lost in a German bomb attack in 1941. It was expanded around 1900 and had a hall for pre-burial services. It served the Linnaeus Street and Osborne Street synagogues. In 2002, vandals damaged 110 graves, and another 80 were smashed in 2011. The cemetery has five war graves of Jewish service members, one from World War I and four from World War II.
In 1935, the Osborne Street congregation looked for space at Marfleet Lane. Phineas Hart, a synagogue secretary who helped poor immigrants, is buried there. It also contains a war grave of Signalman Benedict Korklin, who died in World War II.
The Central Congregation started the Ella Street Cemetery in 1889. This is now the main Orthodox cemetery. One grave is for Annie Sheinrog, a headmistress.
Since 1975, the Reform Congregation has a small site in Anlaby.
Schools
In 1826, the Robinson Row shul had a simple school-room. By 1852, 40 boys and girls were learning Hebrew, English, and arithmetic in a rebuilt facility there. In 1838, there was also a free school for poor children. Thanks to the work of Philip Bender, Rev. Isaac Hart, and others, schooling for boys and girls (who were taught separately) developed further. By the 1870s, there were schools on West Street, and separate schools were set up on Osborne Street by 1887. A girls' school started in 1863, and with infants, it had 200 students in 1900. This school continued for a long time under headmistress Miss Annie Sheinrog, even through wartime evacuations, and closed in 1945.
From 1870 onwards, boys attended state schools. This was topped up by early morning or evening Hebrew School classes, connected to the larger synagogues. The Sunday morning cheder (religious school) at Linnaeus Street, for boys and girls, was later joined by evening classes at Kirk Ella School around 1966 and soon moved there. Later, it was run at the Parkfield Centre, and finally at Pryme Street synagogue, before closing around 2010. Michael Westerman was the last headmaster.
In addition to local state schools like Kingston High, Malet Lambert, Newland High (for girls), and Eastfield Primary, popular private schools were Hymers College (for boys) and, to a lesser extent, Tranby Croft (for girls).
Challenges and Anti-Semitism
Jewish people in Hull often describe their city as "historic and welcoming," showing "maximum tolerance and understanding to religious minorities." However, anti-Semitism (prejudice against Jewish people) has a long history in England, and in Hull.
Religious Prejudice
In 1769, a local leaflet claimed that the "Wandering Jew of Jerusalem" – a shoemaker condemned for spitting on Jesus – had arrived in Hull. The myth said no chains could hold him, and he never aged, as he waited for the Second Coming. After Jewish people were expelled from England, such myths shaped how they were seen. This led to calls for the conversion of Jews to Christianity, promoted by Hull's famous William Wilberforce. New arrivals at the port were offered Christian meetings and leaflets in Yiddish. There was an active mission in Hull throughout the 19th century.
In 1833, a petition in Hull saw allowing Jewish people more rights as a threat to the Christian Sabbath. When Sir Isaac Goldsmid tried to become a Member of Parliament for nearby Beverley in 1847, the Hull Packet newspaper called him "a radical Jew" and "an anti-Christian movement." However, at that time, the editor of the Hull Advertiser was campaigning against such religious prejudice.
Attacks on Jewish graves in Hull have continued from the past into the 21st century.
Economic Challenges
In the early years, Jewish people in Hull mostly found work with other Jews or by working for themselves. In 1838, a bill-poster named Michael Jacobs was wrongly accused of theft. A peddler in 1841 was verbally abused, attacked, and threatened with a knife over a money dispute. Attacks on Jewish people in the street happened for various reasons. Later, Jewish people being very successful in some trades and their involvement in Trade Unions caused some local anger. Also, the fact that Jewish people who observed the Sabbath wished to trade on Sundays was an issue.
In 1832, Jewish leaders in Hull were wrongly accused in print of an "offensive tax" on meat. For years, local newspapers printed unfair stereotypes, showing Jews as greedy money-lenders or making fun of them. They often repeated London news stories about any Jew accused of dishonesty.
Political Issues
There was public and political support in Hull for giving Jewish people more legal rights. However, the first apparently Jewish Mayor of Hull was mocked in a political cartoon that focused on his background and appearance. He also faced subtle teasing about converting to Christianity.
Hostility towards Jewish people after the Eastern European immigration led to the Aliens Act in 1905, which greatly reduced arrivals by 1914. During World War I, anti-foreigner riots, which were worst in Hull, were aimed at Germans but also affected Jewish people, including those in Hull. Many families changed their German-sounding names at this time.
In the 1930s, Fascists advertised in Hull and attacked Jewish shops. Some Jewish people fought back. In 1936, Oswald Mosley, a Fascist leader, fled the large "Battle of Corporation Field." Anti-Semitism was widespread, even during World War II. However, it suddenly became unacceptable after 1945 newsreels showed the horrors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Still, sympathy for Holocaust survivors and British support for Zionism were not enough to stop the reaction to attacks against British forces in Palestine. The anti-Jewish riots in the summer of 1947 were worst in Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. In Hull, windows of shops on Hessle Road were broken.
Hull University has one of the few Student Unions that have left the National Union of Students. This was caused by ongoing disagreements about anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on campus.
First World War
War Service
The moving letters of Marcus Segal, who was killed in 1917, from the trenches to his Hull-born mother, describe life at the front.
About 50 Jewish men from Hull died for their country in World War I. Many more fought and survived. Some sad community losses included Corporal Harry and Private Marcus Silverstone, who were killed weeks apart in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Private Max Kay, born in Minsk, lived on Hessle Road and died of wounds in Mesopotamia in 1916. He was mentioned in official reports and is remembered on the Basra Memorial.
In January 1917, Corporal Harry Furman (aged 20) rescued his friend Private Simon Levine (aged 21), before both died of their wounds. Later that year, Solomon Ellis was killed, six months before his brother Nathan. Louis Newman was killed in France in 1917, three months before his brother Charles died at Ypres. Abraham and Joseph Sultan also both died in the war. Lieutenant Edward M. Gosschalk (aged 33), whose father had been Sheriff of Hull, died in 1916.
Sergeant Jack Aarons was wounded in 1916 and received the Military Medal in 1918. He lived until 1976. Private Louis Shapero also received the Military Medal for his great bravery in rescuing a wounded officer while under fire.
The first Jewish person to serve in the Royal Flying Corps was Wing Commander Joseph Kemper. Born in Hull, he was one of five Jewish people who served in both the RFC and the RAF in World War II.
Home Front
Besides the worry of having sons away at war, there was a rise in anti-foreigner feelings at home. German Zeppelin airships bombed Hull, hitting Jewish traders and others in the Churchside marketplace, and homes like that of Harris Needler's family.
The wartime economy brought a boom in making military supplies, and even airplane parts and naval salvage. However, the Spanish flu pandemic and a severe economic downturn after the war eventually caused many of these businesses to go bankrupt.
Second World War
Leading into War
Even with rules against immigration, some people fleeing Europe in the 1930s came to Britain, often through Hull. About 120 stayed in the area, at least for a while. This included German-speaking doctors. The Sprinz family settled near Hull after Kristallnacht, a terrible event in Germany.
Local families, both Jewish and Christian, initially took in 63 Kindertransport children. At least 22 of these children were raised in Hull. One was Rudolf Wessely, father of famous psychiatrist Sir Simon Wessely. Another was Fred Barshak, who had seen Kristallnacht in Vienna. Like many, he later found that his whole family had been killed. He was a violin prodigy, studied law, and became a property developer. His children are comedian Aaron and composer/film-maker Tamara.
Like other British Jews, the community in Hull greatly feared a Nazi invasion. The truth about the genocide later called the Holocaust was not a secret. German plans to round up and kill people in Britain had actually been made. Professor Theodor Plaut, who was at Hull University from 1933–1936, was one of the Jewish targets listed in these plans.
The Hull Blitz
In 1940, spirits were high, with fundraising for the armed forces. However, as a major East Coast port, Hull had a special reason to fear not only invasion but also the bombing that came before it. Hull was the British city that was bombed most heavily in proportion to its size. A map of bomb sites shows where areas were hit by German planes. Some Jewish people in Hull died, including auxiliary fireman Alexander Schooler, air-raid warden Abraham Levy, fire-watcher Louis Black, Mark Goltman on Beverley Road, and others in raids in Manchester and Coventry.
Three synagogues were damaged, two of them badly. The city center became a "moonscape of bombsites, craters, and broken buildings." The old housing and shops around Osborne Street and along Anlaby and Hessle Roads were later cleared away. Some streets that completely disappeared had been strong Jewish areas. In this district, truly, "little, if any, of old Hull is still standing."
Perhaps half the population of Hull was homeless or evacuated at some point. Jewish children were sent away, many to non-Jewish homes, around East Yorkshire and beyond. The shock of the Blitz, the newsreels from Belsen, and the joy of VE Day were followed by events in British Mandate Palestine.
War Service
At least 18 Jewish service members from Hull died in World War II, and many more survived and received awards.
Captain Isidore Newman (1916–1944), a teacher in 1938, was a radio operator for SOE (Special Operations Executive). He was betrayed on his second mission in occupied France and was murdered by the SS in Austria in 1944.
Major Wilfred "Billy" Sugarman (1918–1976), son of a tailor, was part of the first wave of troops to land on D-Day in Normandy. He suffered multiple grenade wounds but led his men forward. He went on to see more action in Egypt and Burma. After the war, he became a headmaster in Hull. His younger brother Harold was, according to family stories, a decoder and operative in Italy/Austria who carried a cyanide pill.
Of the six Rossy Brothers, anti-aircraft Gunner Cyril Rosenthall and mechanic Aircraftsman Ronnie were both killed in 1941. Ernie returned from Dunkirk and Burma. Morris Miller died fighting in the Spanish Civil War in 1938, before his brother Lance-Corporal Alfred Miller, who fell with the Royal Artillery in 1940.
Others who died included Flying Officers Harold Rathbone and Bernard Tallerman; Lieutenant David Queskey; Flight Sergeants Calman Bentley and Gerald Cobden; Sergeant William Hare; Company Quartermaster Sergeant David Juggler; Lance Sergeant Cyril Bass; Corporal Mark Moses; Privates Harry Garfunkle and Harold Harris (the "table tennis champion of Hull"); Signalman Benedict Korklin; and Bombardier Fred Rapstone.
Leslie Kersh spent three and a half years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp.
Corporal Bernard Levy from Hull was among the first to see the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He did not speak of his experiences for 70 years. He founded and ran the High and Mighty clothing chain. He died in 2022 at age 96.
The Hull Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women continued to march annually in Whitehall into the 21st century.
After 1945, Jewish people played their part in helping the city recover.
Businesses
Jewelers, Merchants, and Shipbuilders
Leading Jewish families in Hull were once mostly shop owners and skilled workers who sold valuable items and famous brand watches. Well-known Victorian clockmakers included Bethel Jacobs and Isaac Lavine, as well as Bush, Carlin, Friedman, Lewis, Maizels, Marks, Shibko, Solomon, Symons, and Wacholder. There were many other jewelers, and later only a few remained, like watchmaker PS Phillips, Chappells, and Segals, which is still in business (started 1919). Synagogue president Louis Rapstone sold antiques in town, as did TV personality David Hakeney.
Mid-century trading businesses, like Lewis & Godfrey's fancy bazaar in the 1850s, Magner Bros' fancy goods dealers and importers, and Haberland & Glassman's grocers in 1867, became major merchant firms around 1900. Dumoulin & Gosschalk were classic "Port Jews" who imported hides, wool, and other goods. Victor Dumoulin became Hull's Imperial Ottoman Vice-Consul, later consul for the Austrian Empire, and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. Major Jewish egg importers included Max Minden & Co and Fischoff, as well as Saville Goldrein, Annis & Gordon, and Cecil Krotowski. Among grain importers was the Hull warehouse of the international Louis Dreyfus & Co.
Martin Samuelson was born in Hamburg to a Jewish merchant family that converted to Christianity, probably in Hull. He was an engineer who built iron ships. He served as Sheriff and Mayor of Hull. The piece of land where his large shipyard was located is still called Sammy's Point, where Hull's The Deep aquarium now stands. His brother, Alexander, also an engineer, worked with Martin in Hull. Another brother, Sir Bernhard Samuelson, who went to school in Hull, became a famous industrialist.
Tailors and Other Trades
Solomon Cohen was a successful pioneer of ready-made clothing in Hull. Tailors, mostly from Eastern Europe, were the most common trade by 1900. Many young women worked as seamstresses or tailor's finishers. After the economic downturns of the 1920s and 1930s, and World War II, some clothing businesses survived.
Because Hull was important for importing and processing timber from the Baltic, many small woodworkers and cabinet-makers were also present. Similar workshops led to the creation of large furniture companies. Another major trade was making clogs, slippers, and boots, using imported leather and wood. Rosen's slipper and shoe factory was a big employer. John Harris and Furmans shoe shops were well-known.
After the war, chains like Zerny's dry-cleaners (started 1892) and Goodfellows supermarkets were visible across town. Jewish tobacconists included several Vinegrads sweet shops. The family also ran wholesale businesses before the war and later radio shops. Now-lost kosher bakers and butchers, delicatessens, and fish-shops of old Osborne Street are often remembered fondly, especially Freedman the baker, and fryers Levine's and Barnett's. Many other city names are also recalled: Reuben barbers, and Rossy Bros bookmakers; Segal's, Shenker's, and Sultan's curtains, furriers Blooms, Blank, and Silver, Goldstones wallpaper and paint, Bennetts glass, Couplands carpets, and Myers wholesalers. AK Jacobs had garages before the war, while Car Marks number-plates came later. Actress Mira Johnson's gown shop, House of Mirelle, is still celebrated.
Notable Persons
