AST FAMILY 867,000

Kukla clan’s name had o at least 20 different s sparked by the death nal grandmother Golda 995. lways told him he was amily she referred to as Royal Family”. She was a lovely woman randchildren. A bit of a airs and graces.”

urvivors

an visited a cousin of his r’s called Sarah Bobroff ork. a memory like an eagle ery single aunt, uncle and was before the internet, cribbling notes down. in my wildest dreams, d find so many relatives. e message this sends out, a family of survivors.” s of joy at Sunday’s reunion at the Langley Banqueting Suite, were also mixed with more sombre stories of relatives massacred at the hands of the Nazis.

There was Ida Kukla, who lost her grandfather and every aunt and uncle. Only her father survived.

Randi Cantor’s mother’s five siblings were gassed at Auschwitz, while Viktor Brod’s grandmother, together with 30,000 Jews, was shot dead in the Rumbula massacre, in the Riga ghetto in 1941.

Bracha Melamood and Naomi Rotem, the daughters of Pesa Kukla, lost all 10 of their mother’s siblings, while Jan Rodner’s grandparents and two uncles were killed in Auschwitz.

Before tracing his family became his life’s work, Ian helped launch the career of Take That, producing their first three numbers, including Could It Be Magic, winner of the Brit Awards best single in 1993. But tracing a dynasty against all the odds, with all the records in East Europe being destroyed as a result of the Soviet Revolution and the Holocaust, has become his “greatest legacy”.

His early efforts to trace relatives led to a cousin Howard Cuckle, originally from Hull but now living in Israel, contacting him. Ian was also traced, via the internet, by Ida Tonker f r om Canada who was researching her own family tree.

She knew her father was from Latvia and when he returned from the frontline after the Second World War his family was gone. She said: “He never knew how they died. He wrote to the Red Cross but then they didn’t have computers so he never found out.” But Ian was able to fill in the gaps. She said: “No words can describe the feeling about the reunion. “From th the first evening when we camecam to Ian’s house and the n next dinners it’s been ph phenomenal. “I f elt s uch a closenessc to everybody in the room. I wanted to hug them, to talk to them to be closec to them. “I felt that I belong an and so did others. It wa was an amazing gift from Ian to all of us.” Even a se serious stroke three years ago hasn’t stopped Ian soldiering on with his search. He has spent a small fortune, even having to borrow money to finish the book for the extended family. Ian, who was compere for the day, said: “It’s been a real labour of love. “I actually feel a bit lost now thatth it’s all over. I don’t know whatw to do with myself. “But it was worth it.”