Refugee who fled the Nazis dies aged 96
TRIBUTES have been paid to a Holocaust survivor who has passed away at the age of 96. Ingrid Wuga escaped Hitler’s Germany at the age of 15 and worked tirelessly to tell the next generations of the horrors inflicted by the Nazis.
Born in Dortmund in 1924, she was able to flee on the Kindertransport a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Ingrid and her family settled in Glasgow, after a short- lived spell in England, and it was in the city and its surrounding areas that she took her tale to hundreds of schoolkids over the years.
Kirsten Oswald, East Renfrewshire MP, was among those to pay tribute to Ingrid, who spent her later years in Giffnock.
Ms Oswald said: “I am so sad to hear this news. Ingrid Wuga, along with her husband, Henry, made a huge impact upon everyone they met.
“Hundreds of children in East Renfrewshire have heard them talking about the Holocaust, and the lessons we need to learn. She was just a really lovely kind person.”
Ingrid married Henry, at Pollokshields synagogue in 1944. He had also escaped the Nazis on the Kindertransport, and they ran a catering business together for 30 years. They have two daughters, four grandsons and two great- grandsons.
Ingrid was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Holocaust education and awareness last December. In the past five years more than 5000 people have heard her testimony through the Holocaust Educational Trust’s outreach programme.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “Ingrid was a Kindertransport Holocaust survivor who arrived in Britain at the age of 15 after being forced to flee her home
and life in Germany. She and her husband, fellow Kindertransport refugee Henry, dedicated themselves to sharing their testimony and ensuring that the human history of the Holocaust lives on with young people.
“As a great supporter of our Scottish Ambassadors, the impact she had over the years is immeasurable and we will all remember her fondly. Ingrid will be greatly missed, and our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.”