Below you’ll find a recording of the webinar which took place Tuesday 3 August.
Willesden Jewish Cemetery volunteer researchers Corinne Van Colle and Jackie Asher spent 2½ years uncovering the stories of the many Jewish soldiers killed in action during World War 1 who are buried or commemorated in the cemetery. Encountering many challenges including worn headstones, inconsistent records, and changed names, they eventually discovered commemorations relating to over 350 servicemen (and one woman!). Research revealed, too, their many different family backgrounds: these were the sons of Edwardian Anglo-Jewish engineers, bootmakers and bankers. In this webinar, Corinne and Jackie will share some of the forgotten stories of the young Jewish men, memorialised in the cemetery in moving inscriptions and poems, who went to war in 1914.
Who were Willesden Jewish Cemetery’s WW1 Soldiers? will be hosted by Professor Nadia Valman, who teaches in the English department at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author or editor of eight books on the history and culture of British Jewry.
Professor Nadia Valman
