Refugee from Germany who kept alive the memory of the Holocaust
INGRID WUGA, who died recently at the age of 96, was a remarkable woman, and her passing is mourned by all those lucky enough to know her.
A Holocaust survivor who made her home in Scotland, she dedicated the latter years of her life to ensuring everyone, particularly young people, know about the past and what happened when hatred and anti-semitism were left unchecked.
She was unfailingly kind, a source of huge inspiration to everyone who heard her testimony, and she was determined to make Scotland and the entire United Kingdom a better place.
Ingrid was born in Dortmund, Germany, in 1924. When she was 15 she was able to escape occupied Germany on the Kindertransport
– a British Government initiative to allow 10,000 unaccompanied children to come to safety in the UK –just a few short weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War.
She was not given the opportunity to continue her education in the UK and soon after arriving in Ashby-de-la-zouch, Leicestershire, she took up a position as a nanny.
Unlike the parents of most of the Kindertransport refugees, Ingrid’s mother and father were fortunately able to follow her to the UK.
Despite having a successful business and being well educated, they took the difficult decision to leave everything behind in Germany and to take up positions as domestic servants.
However, Ingrid’s aunt and uncle chose to remain in Germany, where they were murdered by the Nazis.
After a few months in England, Ingrid’s parents were offered jobs in West Kilbride and the family moved to Scotland.
As the war progressed, those born outside the UK were no longer allowed to live on the coast because it was feared they may send signals to the German Army.
Ingrid relocated to Glasgow, where she worked in a dress shop, sewing collars on British Army uniforms.
She met her husband, Henry, at Pollokshields synagogue, Glasgow, in December 1947 and together they would go on to run a catering business for 30 years.
In 2019, Ingrid was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Holocaust education, a true recognition of the work she did to educate people about the Holocaust. Ingrid said at the time she was “absolutely delighted” to have had the award conferred upon her.
Although our office (Holocaust Educational Trust) is based in London, we always knew we had a home in Scotland thanks to the Wugas.
Within minutes of arriving at her home, we were being shown around, sat down for lunch, and talking as if we had known each other forever.
It was so lovely to hear from Henry and Ingrid just how passionate they were about the various charitable causes they supported, and they talked a lot about their daughters and their family.
The Holocaust Educational Trust works with young people across the country, including our young Ambassadors who, having taken part in our flagship Lessons From Auschwitz Project, have seen for themselves the site where 1.1 million people were murdered, simply for being Jewish.
They come back from Auschwitz with a passion and commitment to learning more and to sharing their experiences with others.
Ingrid adored meeting our Ambassadors and was as energised by meeting them as they were by meeting her.
She and her husband attended a number of events for these Ambassadors, excited to meet the next generation of witnesses to the Holocaust.
They always arrived early, wanting to be on hand to support the team as we set up, be there to talk to as many Ambassadors as possible and to ensure as many people as possible had the opportunity to talk to them directly. In fact, Ingrid spoke to more than 5,000 adults and young people over the last five years, making sure the truth of the past will be remembered by so many in Scotland, for generations to come.
Our Ambassadors adored meeting Henry and Ingrid – there was always a queue to talk to them whenever they got the chance.
A few years ago, a number of our young Ambassadors were doing the Scottish Kilt Walk to raise money for the Holocaust Educational Trust.
The night before, there was nowhere they would rather be than at dinner with Henry and Ingrid.
They spent the night chatting away, talking about their work with the Trust, and generally hearing about what motivated these young people.
Henry and Ingrid inspired a generation of young Scots, as well as inspiring all of us at the Holocaust Educational Trust.
Ingrid will be missed by all of us at the Trust, but we know that through our organisation, as well as all of the people who heard her speak, her testimony and the memory of those she lost will live on.
May her memory be a blessing.
She dedicated her latter years to ensuring that everyone knows what happened when hatred and anti-semitism were left unchecked