Charles Stevens

Horrific wartime cruelty helped survivor become a faith-healer

DESPITE A life touched by pain, sorrow and hardships that would have defeated a lesser mortal, Charles Stevens, who has died aged 96, chose to use his experiences to help others through faith-healing.

While the Second World War was still raging, he reached England from Poland and joined British Intelligence, working for them until the end of the War. His early years in Nowy Sacz in Poland were relatively normal until Antisemitism eventually made his school life intolerable.

The son of Hannah and Kalman Sieradski, Charles was partly educated in his local yeshiva until the horrific invasion of his home town by the Nazis, resulting in the murder of most of his family and the seizure of their home. At the age of 16, Charles managed to escape to Russia but, as he spoke many languages, the Russians considered him a spy and imprisoned him in a Siberian prison camp.

He endured unspeakable cruelty, including torture and starvation at the hands of the Russians, but when the Germans invaded Russia once again he was segregated and imprisoned by the Nazis. When he left the camp he weighed three and a half stone, but miraculously survived.

In England, he entered the tailoring industry and later property investment. During his early years, here he met and married Rita Lingulka-Jacobs, which proved a marriage of soulmates, enduring some 71 years. Initially living in London after the birth of their first daughter Carole, they moved to Ilford in Essex and had two more children, Gillian and Eric. Tragically, Carole died from cancer at the age of 49, with which Charles, could never come to terms. He suffered ill health throughout his life due to his ill-treatment in various camps, but despite this and the early death of his daughter, he managed, through sheer determination to get on with life. Following Carole’s death, he bequeathed properties to Cancer Research in Israel, which has funded the studies of two doctors in this field and continues to the present day.

Charles immersed himself in learning, particularly philosophy and spirituality. He became recognised as a spiritual healer with many success stories, and also supported children and young adults with learning difficulties.

He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the University of Jerusalem, which uses his book, Journey into Manhood as a university text book. There is also a copy in the Imperial War Museum.

Charles had a wonderful sense of humour and he once told me that this alone kept him sane when things were unbelievably bad in the camps.

His faith-healing work was a secondary occupation for which he never charged any money. He opened his house to people on a Monday evening and had very long queues forming outside and along the street where he lived.

He also helped people who contacted him privately and had a high degree of success. He is survived by Rita, his daughter Gillian and son Eric.

Charles Stevens: Born January 24, 1922. Died August 7, 2018