Student News

Dora Hirsh

Fun at Freshers

During September and October, JSocs big and small worked hard hosting stalls at freshers’ fairs across the country. Freshers’ fairs are a vital part of Jewish student life because it lets students know that their JSoc is there for them, and they are a great way to get new students involved! UJS delivered 2000 freshers packs to be handed out to new students, as well as special blue t-shirts for committee members so they would be recognised as a friendly face. JSoc committees, joined by their Sabbatical Officers, signed students up to JSoc, answered questions, and most importantly, were proud examples of what Jewish life on campus can look like at its best. Some freshers knew to look out for their JSoc’s stall, while others stumbled across them, surprised that their university had any Jewish students at all! In total, UJS sabs visited 60 JSocs during the freshers’ period. Some of the busiest stalls were hosted at Leeds, UCL and Kings. Our fast-growing JSocs also ran fabulous stalls, for example at Bath, Sheffield and Edinburgh. And of course, even the smallest JSocs hosted terrific stalls, for example students at Lancaster, Huddersfield and Hertfordshire, with a special shout out to Jewish students at Lincoln, where despite having no official JSoc, 10 Jewish students signed up to help create one!

Holocaust Survivor Week

Back in November, UJS organised Holocaust Survivor Week - a week dedicated to listening to Holocaust survivor testimony and honouring the horrors they went through. On Monday, Tomi Reichental spoke to students at Bristol, Cork, Dublin and Belfast JSocs about his life in Slovakia as a child, his deportation to Bergen-Belsen, and how he moved to Ireland to be- come one of its only Holocaust survivors. On Tuesday, Huddersfield heard from Liesel Carter, who told her story of how she came to England at 4 years old. After being transferred through a number of families to get there from Germany, including a period living in Sweden and Norway, she found safety in Britain in January 1940. On Wednesday, Birmingham JSoc heard from second generation survivor Michael Bandel, who told his father’s story of survival in Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Ebensee concentration camps. On Thursday, Oxford JSoc heard Irene Gill’s testimony, with Warwick

JSoc joining via Zoom. Irene was born in Germany, from where she escaped to Denmark in 1936, before then moving to Oxford, where she has lived since she was six years old. Irene shared her experiences and how they have informed her political views to an overflowing lecture hall in Oxford, which was a unique and really interesting perspective. We were so proud to have delivered this programming, and would like to extend our gratitude to Tomi, Liesel, Michael, and Irene who generously gave their time, as well as to all the JSocs which hosted them and promoted the events.