JFS - History

Here are the memiors of ex JFS pupil Jack Griffiths who joined the J.F.S. Central School in 1936.

We were known as the 'Beigel Boys' because of the yellow ring round our navy caps which denoted that we had passed an exam which was to show that were in some way slightly better that the 'Senior' boys, although I never saw any evidence of that. The senior boys had a yellow button on their caps while the juniors had just a plain navy cap.
On the first morning we were all asked if we wanted to join the 'technical' or 'commercial' stream. The difference being that we either learned metalwork etc or bookkeeping, German, and the like. No discussion, no parental interviews, just 11 year olds having to make up their minds on the first morning. I chose Technical.
All in all it was a great school with some very good teachers indeed; the head of Central, Mr Finer was a very kind person, always ready to talk to the boys in a fatherly way. I cant say that I knew the head of the seniors, Dr Bernstein. My teachers included Mr Parker (History), Mr Stein (German), Mr (Navvie) Levine. The art master whose nick-name was Mongy, and my favourite Mr Benjamin who made both Physics and Shakespeare come alive for me; a fantastic teacher who wielded a heavy cane! Mr Shrimpton did woodwork and Mr Reader metalwork.
Many of the boys came from very poor families. There was the 'Country Holiday Fund' which took them away in the summer for a week and I remember some of the boys being given a pair of boots in the winter.
On September the first 1939 we were all taken to Liverpool St Station with our little suit cases and our gas masks, with a label pinned on our jackets with our names and off we went to Newmarket then on to buses to various villages in the Fens. Twenty or so 14 year olds landed up in Isleham, a small village 14 miles or so from Ely. Others went to Soham and Fordham. Among the names I remember were Nat (Peanuts) Richman, Solly Weiss, Claude (Connie) Taylor. When we arrived at the local school to be allocated places to stay I vividly recall the Headmaster Mr Hodges rushing into the hall and shouting "They are all Jews!" None or the villagers there had ever seen a Jew before and they were looking for our forked tails and horns! I together with a young lad named Levine were sent to the local hostelry 'The Griffin Hotel' opposite the Church. Mr and Mrs Sheldrake and their daughter Rene looked after us very well, we had a large room with a double bed. There was no running water at that time and the outside toilet was a hole in the ground!On Sunday 3rd September war was declared and I remember Peanuts Richman saying to me that it will all be over by Christmas. One problem some of us had was the non-kosher food. We ate well in the Hotel, which was really a pub with rooms. The only thing that I could'nt eat was rabbit. Every evening we sat in the back parlour with the Headmaster, Mr Hodges and the local bobby Mr Watson, listening to stories of the first world war. We were only 4 miles from Mildenhall where the RAF had Wellington bombers. The first raids over Germany came from there.
The local vicar whose name escapes me had had experience with Jews earlier, in fact he could read Hebrew and he invited us into the church. I recall singing Adon Alom there one morning. Some of us helped to make a Chanukiah which we presented to him in December. School was half days only and because we were all approaching 15, the time when most children started work, there was'nt much of that. My birthday was in February and shortly after that I went home to London. Living in East Anglia, I have been back to Isleham once or twice, They have running water now, The Griffin is a modern pub.
In conclusion, I have never forgotten the cry "They are all Jews" and look of apprehension on the faces of the villagers. For the last 12 years I have been involved with religious education and have spoken about Judaism to nearly every 7 to 12 year old child in Norfolk. They come to Norwich Synagogue for a talk and many come back later for GCSE. I like think that the 10 year olds of 10 years ago are now adults who would not be shocked to hear "They are all Jews!"

Jack Griffiths.
Norwich. 2001.

	Jewish Free School - My Memories.	Click here to see the JFS timeline
	Here are the memiors of ex JFS pupil Jack Griffiths who joined the J.F.S. Central School in 1936. We were known as the 'Beigel Boys' because of the yellow ring round our navy caps which denoted that we had passed an exam which was to show that were in some way slightly better that the 'Senior' boys, although I never saw any evidence of that. The senior boys had a yellow button on their caps while the juniors had just a plain navy cap. On the first morning we were all asked if we wanted to join the 'technical' or 'commercial' stream. The difference being that we either learned metalwork etc or bookkeeping, German, and the like. No discussion, no parental interviews, just 11 year olds having to make up their minds on the first morning. I chose Technical. All in all it was a great school with some very good teachers indeed; the head of Central, Mr Finer was a very kind person, always ready to talk to the boys in a fatherly way. I cant say that I knew the head of the seniors, Dr Bernstein. My teachers included Mr Parker (History), Mr Stein (German), Mr (Navvie) Levine. The art master whose nick-name was Mongy, and my favourite Mr Benjamin who made both Physics and Shakespeare come alive for me; a fantastic teacher who wielded a heavy cane! Mr Shrimpton did woodwork and Mr Reader metalwork. Many of the boys came from very poor families. There was the 'Country Holiday Fund' which took them away in the summer for a week and I remember some of the boys being given a pair of boots in the winter. On September the first 1939 we were all taken to Liverpool St Station with our little suit cases and our gas masks, with a label pinned on our jackets with our names and off we went to Newmarket then on to buses to various villages in the Fens. Twenty or so 14 year olds landed up in Isleham, a small village 14 miles or so from Ely. Others went to Soham and Fordham. Among the names I remember were Nat (Peanuts) Richman, Solly Weiss, Claude (Connie) Taylor. When we arrived at the local school to be allocated places to stay I vividly recall the Headmaster Mr Hodges rushing into the hall and shouting "They are all Jews!" None or the villagers there had ever seen a Jew before and they were looking for our forked tails and horns! I together with a young lad named Levine were sent to the local hostelry 'The Griffin Hotel' opposite the Church. Mr and Mrs Sheldrake and their daughter Rene looked after us very well, we had a large room with a double bed. There was no running water at that time and the outside toilet was a hole in the ground!On Sunday 3rd September war was declared and I remember Peanuts Richman saying to me that it will all be over by Christmas. One problem some of us had was the non-kosher food. We ate well in the Hotel, which was really a pub with rooms. The only thing that I could'nt eat was rabbit. Every evening we sat in the back parlour with the Headmaster, Mr Hodges and the local bobby Mr Watson, listening to stories of the first world war. We were only 4 miles from Mildenhall where the RAF had Wellington bombers. The first raids over Germany came from there. The local vicar whose name escapes me had had experience with Jews earlier, in fact he could read Hebrew and he invited us into the church. I recall singing Adon Alom there one morning. Some of us helped to make a Chanukiah which we presented to him in December. School was half days only and because we were all approaching 15, the time when most children started work, there was'nt much of that. My birthday was in February and shortly after that I went home to London. Living in East Anglia, I have been back to Isleham once or twice, They have running water now, The Griffin is a modern pub. In conclusion, I have never forgotten the cry "They are all Jews" and look of apprehension on the faces of the villagers. For the last 12 years I have been involved with religious education and have spoken about Judaism to nearly every 7 to 12 year old child in Norfolk. They come to Norwich Synagogue for a talk and many come back later for GCSE. I like think that the 10 year olds of 10 years ago are now adults who would not be shocked to hear "They are all Jews!" Jack Griffiths. Norwich. 2001.

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