Eighty three-year-old Jack Aizenberg sums up the two extremes he has known in his long life. “Manchester is a city I’ve lived the last 60 years,” he says. “I’ve seen two worlds. I’ve been in hell and the last 60 years in paradise.”
He tells an ITV documentary that here is where, until retiring five years ago, he had a successful luggage business. And the pristine home in Whitefield he shares with wife Rhona is a long way from that ‘hell’ of his childhood. For Manchester’s Jewish community, Jack is one of the few remaining witnesses to terrible events.
In November 1942, the Nazis came for the Jews in his home town of Staszow, Poland. At his father’s suggestion, Jack went into hiding. Only much later did he realise the fate of his parents and younger brother Simon.
“It was called Black Sunday by the Poles,” he says. “They started marching them to the railway station 30 miles away, and they shot 150 people before they even started walking. They walked 30 miles - women, children, sick people - to the train. Three and a half thousand arrived at the train, three and a half thousand were shot before they got there.”
The final destination was Belzec extermination camp.
“At Auschwitz there was a selection process. In Belzec there was no selection. It was off the train, get undressed, told they were having a shower and that was it,” says Jack
Discovered in hiding by the Nazis, 13-year-old Jack became a slave labourer in various factories including one at Colditz making armaments, and spent time at Buchenwald concentration camp.
As the Nazis faced defeat, Jack and 600 others were taken on a two-week death march to another concentration camp. Along the way, starving hungry, he recalls finding a solitary pea and making a fire to cook it, splitting it into four to eat it. Jack was weak and close to death when he was finally liberated by the Russians.
Knowing by now that his family must be dead, he chose a new life in England. With two partners and a £30 investment, he began a bag factory which expanded and thrived.
Even now, a look of horror and incomprehension crosses his face as he talks of what happened all those years ago.
“I have not forgotten what freedom means,” he says. “English people do not know how lucky they are.”
Jack is proud to be a Jew and says he believes in God, but at the same time says: “I am not religious”.
Jack is just one subject of Strictly Kosher, which looks at the traditions and ceremonies of the Jewish faith, and also the degrees of observance. At one end of the scale is Joel Lever, whose Mon Amie boutique is frequented by the Jewish ladies of Prestwich. Joel says he is ‘not a religious person’, though he values the communal nature of Jewishness. We see his daughter have a Bat Mitzvah celebration with a twist... Bollywood-style.
Working mother-of-three Bernette Clarke calls herself a ‘modern orthodox mum’, so, she says, she obeys all the rules except one – wearing a wig.
As she explains in the documentary, those rules mean that on Shabbat – the Sabbath – the family cannot watch TV, strike a match, switch on anything electrical, tear paper – including toilet paper – wash up or put on a kettle. Instead, a special water heater, which is already switched on, is set up for Shabbat.
If Bernette forgets to put the heater on, she would have to get a non-Jewish person to switch it on, but since she cannot even ask them directly to do this, she would need to invite them in and chat with them until they got the hint.
Beyond the orthodox Jews are the ultra-Orthodox Haredi community, who keep themselves to themselves even within the Jewish community. Men wear black clothing and have untrimmed beards and long sideburns. This community have large families, which is the reason for an overall rise in the British Jewish population to around 280,000.
At 40,000 and with a history dating back 200 years, Manchester’s Jewish community is the second biggest community in Britain and, the documentary says, the fastest-growing in Europe. And the rise in ultra-Orthodox Judaism has led to a reassertion of Jewish identity and traditions across the whole community.
Strictly Kosher shows us a gathering for a Briss – the rite of circumcision – a wedding, a Bar Mitzvah and the joyous festival of Purim. It also explains how orthodox Jews use matchmakers to bring couples together, some getting engaged within a day, even an hour of meeting.
“Those marriages do survive,” says Bernette. “They don’t get divorced. They’ve done all their homework before they get married.”
We also see Jack’s grandson Benny preparing for his Bar Mitzvah.
“I had a little Benny, a brother who was murdered at the age of nine,” says Jack. “I say to Benny, ‘You know, you’re my brother’. I mean it. He’s the replacement for my brother.”
» Strictly Kosher was broadcast on ITV1 last night. You can replay the show on the ITV player here
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Interesting program, so glad im not religous.
I really enjoyed this programme last night. I have lived alongside the Jewish Community in Prestwich for over 30 years and have witnessed the celebration of Purim on many occasions. It was good viewing and gave people who don't live in or near a Jewish Community the chance to learn about the Jewish Faith and understand them. That Bernadette was a scream and should have her own TV programme. The Jews love a joke against themselves and don't go around crying racism everytime they hear a Jewish Joke. My favourite though was Jack Aizenberg I cried with Jack and wanted to give him a hug, what a lovely man he is!
An interesting programme which tried to show an insight into what many people consider to be a dark mysterious community. However the jumpy almost random pieces made it difficult to follow at times.
The monologues from Jack were totally heartbreaking but his love and affection for his grandson - his "little brother" were completely uplifting.
However Manchester - Paradise? Not many people would refer to it as that.
Their lifestyle is just plain wacky - not allowed to rip toilet paper off the roll on the Sabbath....come on - that's ridiculous!
Very interesting documentary. Seems a lot of happiness within the community. When I mentioned this to my Muslim friend, I was told its because Jews are considered the chosen people who are guaranteed a place in Heaven...! Will they take a non-practising catholic?
Am I the only person who thinks that someone who only wants to marry a person from their own race is by default racists??
Very interesting program. I'm looking forward to the next one!
The Jews fit so well into Manchester. I lived among them in Broughton Park as a young person.They never caused trouble, never showed any signs of 'hating' those who didn't share their faith. I remember falling of my bike when I was 14 and an Orthodox Jewish man and his son rushing over to see if I was ok. They are such a peaceful people, both religious and non religious and they have great humour and don't take themselves too seriously. Perhaps some of the other groups in Manchester should take a leaf out of their book. They are a benefit to Manchester.
Great program and i really enjoyed it,it opened up a world we know very little about.
Jack was a real character but there was one thing i couldn't get my head round.He was stood at a window overlooking his Cul-De-Sac and telling the story about how his family was killed by the Germans.He went on to say that he didn't hate or blame God for what had happened and God had been good to him in other ways(probably his business that had made him so wealthy).
He stated he had forgiven God for his life after his family was murdered as he had been very good to him in other ways.So this to me says that he forgave God for his family due to the fact God made his business do well and made him wealthy.
I'm sorry but no amount of money could replace a 9 yr old brother,mother and father murdered by hatred,wether you blame God or not.Other than that,a very good program.
Jews Rule
i thought it was great tv...it opens our eyes to the jewish community...they know how to throw a party
I like the hats!
The programme was brill and I thought Bernett was wonderful, and I can tell you she is just as wonderful in real life.
You are an ignoramous...the laws under which an orthodox Jew lives are a very important and traditional part of their lives...none of their laws harm you or anyone else
so keep your stupid comments to yourself
I really enjoyed the programme. I also watched a BBC programme called Jews a couple of years ago. It seems that the Jewish culture is built on family, organising and planning.. Oh and a good sense of humour. You have to respect people like jack, they was nearly wiped out, and 70 years later they own the world, I.e film industry, jewellery business, media, property, doctors .. They missed out on the oil, but hey you cannot have it all. I look forward to the next one, I hope it's shows all angles of the community positive and negative... Shalom
I L O V E D this programme. My father was Jewish but unfortunately my mother was not, so therefore neither am I. I was brought up on Waterloo Road, when there was a big Jewish community there and I absolutely LOVE the Jewish people and their traditions and great belief in the importance of the family. My mother and other gentile neighbours of Jewish families would, on a Shabbash morning, go into their neighbours houses and light the fire and make them a cup of tea, no one in those days had the water boiler that could be left on all day.
I still shop in the places depicted in the programme, on Leicester Road, lovely fresh bagels on a Sunday morning from MH Bakery and pickle meat and voscht from Halperns.
All in all Jewish people are peace loving and I believe they bring a wonderful diversity to our city. They are not fanatical outside their own religion and they respect the beliefs of others. They do not play the racist card whenever they have a grievance and those who came from outside our shores have never tried to turn the UK into the place they left.
Mazeltov...I salute them all.
I look at Prestwich and surrounding areas now and remember when it was full of jewish run shops around cheetamhil it was really a clean and tidy area with the shopkeepers proud of the area but since the asian community moved into the area i find it scruffy and untidy the shops are looking run down and dirty sorry but these areas were very tidy since the area changed to a mostly run asian area it looks totally different with tons of wet cardboard and overflowing skips etc.
I loved the show. Bernette Clarke was a star. Her comments really made me smile She may be Jewish, she may have Irish connections, but she is Manchester through and through
Really enjoyed it. A community that knows when and how to pull together even when there are obviously large divisions.
Made me a little teary eyed when the grandfather said he had been to hell in the concentration camps yet had also lived in paradise for 60 years (In Manchester)
Long may the community thrive.
What a fantastic programme. North Manchester's Jews are a huge asset and give the area a real cosmopolitan feel - I'm so pleased to live in such a multi-cultural city.
I knew people would use this story to make disgusting snide references to Muslims, I was not wrong.
By the way there was an attempted pogrom against Jews in Manchester when Zionist terrorists were at large in Palestine in the 1940s.
Curiously there is very litle info about it online.
If you think there are not some very nasty people among the Zionist extremists then and now you are either a know-nothing or choose to ignore it, for reasons of promoting your own agenda, which is it?
Generally though I have nothing but love and respect for those many Jews in all fields who have done much for the world in all fields from science to philosophy and ethics.
Black Flag as usual your wrong i see lots of asians/poles/irish and dozens of other cultures and religions in the area the jewish people like to stay as a close community just like the asians/italians/irish but the jewish people are a very close community .i know a lot of jewish people and ive lived with them and found them a great community and welcoming .and never troublesome (whinging about racial this and that and using the race card to get ahead of the indigenous people in britain)Even Bernard manning when he was alive (god bless him) used to tell lots of jewish jokes and never had threats or any trouble from the jewish community (because they live and let live).not agressive in any way.
As far as I am concerned, heaven and hell are here on earth!
What am amazing and inspiring insight into the Jewish community and their way of life. I was captivated by Jack's story and really amazed by how devout they have to be in sabbath observance. I have a number of Jewish friends, and look forward to discussing this programme, and some of the issues raised, with them.
Just wondering where the idea of not ripping toilet paper came from on the Sabbath? Remember Jesus was jewish but don't remember reading of them having toilet paper when he was a lad, ha!