Wilfrid Israel
Wilfrid Berthold Israel was born on the 11th of July 1899 into a wealthy Anglo-German Jewish family. He attended the Mommsen-Gymnasium in Berlin-Charlottenburg before spending a few months in 1911 at the Hochalpines Lyceum in Zuoz, Switzerland. Following World War I, he began to travel extensively around the world. His journeys included trips to the Far East where he developed a special interest in works of art from that region. When the global economic crisis struck, he helped bring the Habima Theatre to Mandatory Palestine. On the 27th of September 1931, Wilfrid Israel took his Indian guest V. A. Sundaram to meet Albert Einstein at his summer home in Caputh. Sundaram was Mahatma Gandhi's disciple and had been met by Israel during a visit to India in 1925. During this meeting, Einstein wrote a short letter to Gandhi which was delivered through his envoy. Although Einstein and Gandhi never met as they had hoped, the direct connection between them was established through Wilfrid Israel. In 1932, Recha Freier appealed to him for financial aid to seed Youth Aliyah to Palestine. Israel provided the funds and twelve young people were sent to the Ben Shemen Youth Village.
Wilfrid Israel's family owned the Nathan Israel Department Store in Berlin, one of the largest and oldest stores in pre-World War II Germany. From early in the Nazi period, he used the business as a base to engineer prisoner releases from concentration camps. Many members of the Nazi leadership held accounts at the store and were never charged for their purchases. He also financed the emigration of his Jewish employees who made up roughly a third of the staff. When these employees left Germany, Israel paid them two years' salary at the time of departure. The department store in Berlin was first vandalized and then taken over by the Nazis after a forced sale at a fraction of its worth. Despite losing control of the firm, Israel arranged to give money and other support to many employees to help them flee the country. Some of these employees ultimately reached America. This philanthropy was only a small part of his broader rescue activities which included using influential contacts in Britain to persuade authorities to grant admission to transit camps for Jews released from German concentration camps. Eight thousand young men were saved through this specific arrangement.
Israel formed a working partnership with Frank Foley, the British intelligence agent who served as Passport Officer at the British consulate in Berlin. Together with Hubert Pollack, a Jewish statistician who worked under Wilfrid Israel in the Hilfsverein, they created a secretive mechanism to save as many Jews as possible. Pollack had contacts within the Gestapo while Wilfrid provided money and direct links with sponsors abroad. Foley was the man responsible for issuing visas. Pollack always carried a Mauser pistol in his pocket and acted as the essential intermediary between the three men. They met in small cafes where money could easily pass hands without detection. People came to Wilfrid pleading for help releasing their relations from the camps. He gave the necessary funds to Pollack who then obtained the documents. Foley granted visas to those whom Wilfrid and Pollack confirmed were honest people whose names had been blackened by the Gestapo. Pollack and Wilfrid kept Foley informed about any agents planted by the Gestapo in visa applicant lines. In the last years leading up to Kristallnacht, they managed to save some 10,000 Jews.
Wilfrid Israel played a significant role in the Kindertransport which rescued 10,000 German Jewish children after the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938. By this time most Jewish leadership in Germany had been arrested and he took over running the Hilfsverein organization. He urged British Anglo-Jewish leadership to ensure rescue of children without parents but the government remained skeptical initially. A Quaker delegation directed by Israel and working with the Frauenbund met with parents to provide reassurance to the British government. On the 1st of November Lord Herbert Samuel led an Anglo-Jewish deputation to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain asking for relaxed immigration laws. He received only sympathy and a non-committal answer. On the morning of the 8th of November when Goebbels press campaign became obvious, Israel called on George Ogilvie-Forbes expressing grave apprehension that reprisals would be taken on Jews. On the 9th of November Wilfrid telephoned Chaim Weizmann who immediately contacted the Foreign Office stating the situation had changed most dangerously during the last 24 hours. An Anglo-Jewish deputation led by Lord Samuel included representatives from the British Quakers who visited Germany under Israel's guidance. They confirmed that Jewish parents were willing to part with their children. Speaking in the House of Commons on the evening of the 21st of November Home Secretary Samuel Hoare announced the government agreed to admit refugee children.
Settling in London after leaving Germany, he first worked with Bloomsbury House dealing with German Jewish refugees interned as enemy aliens. In 1941 he became research assistant on Germany to a Royal Institute of International Affairs committee based at Balliol College Oxford while working for the Foreign Office. Among his papers from that period are those dealing with questions of German resistance to Hitler despite his friendship with Adam von Trott one of its members. On the 26th of March 1943 Israel left London for Lisbon Portugal where he spent two months distributing certificates of entry to British-ruled Palestine. Before leaving the Iberian Peninsula he formulated a plan to rescue Jewish children from Vichy France which was partially carried out after his death. He was killed aged 43 on the 1st of June 1943 when British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by eight German Junkers Ju 88s. The plane was en route from Lisbon to Bristol when it was intercepted by a Luftwaffe fighter patrol.
A major memorial has been erected adjacent to the ancient Levite city of Tel Yokneam in Israel honoring Wilfrid Israel and all who risked lives saving fellow Jews during the Holocaust. The 14-foot memorial designed by Jerusalem sculptor Sam Philipe was funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. A Stolpersteine plaque stands at the site of the family firm in Mitte Berlin. The Wilfrid Israel Museum opened in Kibbutz HaZore'a in 1951 as an archaeology and art museum dedicated to his memory. It houses his unique collection including permanent exhibitions of art from India China Thailand Cambodia and the ancient Near East alongside local archaeology. In August 2020 burglars stole around 30 artefacts from the museum. A film titled The Essential Link: The Story of Wilfrid Israel premiered in Israel on the 1st of November 2016. The film directed by Yonatan Nir focuses on the last ten years of his life and is inspired by Naomi Shepherd's biography. Albert Einstein wrote a tribute letter to Mrs. Israel on the 14th of June 1943 describing her son as noble strong and selfless.
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Common questions
When was Wilfrid Israel born and where did he attend school?
Wilfrid Berthold Israel was born on the 11th of July 1899 into a wealthy Anglo-German Jewish family. He attended the Mommsen-Gymnasium in Berlin-Charlottenburg before spending time at the Hochalpines Lyceum in Zuoz, Switzerland.
How did Wilfrid Israel help save Jews during the Nazi period using his department store?
Wilfrid Israel used the Nathan Israel Department Store in Berlin as a base to engineer prisoner releases from concentration camps and financed the emigration of his Jewish employees. He paid departing staff two years' salary and arranged for eight thousand young men to be admitted to transit camps in Britain through influential contacts.
Who were the key partners in Wilfrid Israel's rescue operation with Frank Foley and Hubert Pollack?
Wilfrid Israel formed a working partnership with British intelligence agent Frank Foley and Jewish statistician Hubert Pollack to create a secretive mechanism for saving Jews. Pollack acted as an intermediary with Gestapo contacts while Foley issued visas and they met in small cafes to pass money without detection.
What role did Wilfrid Israel play in the Kindertransport after Kristallnacht in November 1938?
Wilfrid Israel took over running the Hilfsverein organization and urged British Anglo-Jewish leadership to ensure the rescue of children without parents following the Kristallnacht pogrom. His efforts led Home Secretary Samuel Hoare to announce on the evening of the 21st of November that the government agreed to admit refugee children.
How did Wilfrid Israel die and what was he doing at the time of his death?
Wilfrid Israel was killed aged 43 on the 1st of June 1943 when British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by eight German Junkers Ju 88s. He had left London for Lisbon Portugal two months earlier to distribute certificates of entry to British-ruled Palestine.