New memorial for Jewish volunteers

A memorial commemorating the 250 British Jews who went to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War has been unveiled this month at the Lauriston Road Jewish Cemetery in East London.

The stone was installed by the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (Ajex) and the UK branch of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation.

Martin Sugarman of Ajex said: ‘As we reach and live through the approaching period of the 90th anniversary of both the start of the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of Cable Street, a unique tribute to the little known huge proportion of British and world Jewry that helped “fire the first shots” against fascism is being celebrated by the installing of a special memorial on the border of Hackney and Tower Hamlets.’

As the memorial’s inscription states, some 250 Jewish volunteers from Britain fought in the International Brigades – out of a total of 2,500 – at a time when Jews accounted for less than 1 per cent of the population. Most of them came from what are now the London boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

The historic Lauriston Road Jewish Cemetery dates back to the 18th century, when there was a small Sephardic Jewish community in Hackney. It is open to visitors by appointment via the United Synagogue.