This website has been created to record the history of the Benjamin family from the city of Breslau in Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland).
Edgar Benjamin was my father. He was born in Germany and was part of a Jewish family that were victims of Nazi persecution. Most of the Benjamin family escaped from Germany however Edgar’s mother, Stephanie (my Grandmother) was unable to escape and was murdered during the holocaust. Edgar was sent to England on one of the first Kindertransport as a 10 year old boy and housed in a hostel in Glasgow, Scotland. He was later joined in Scotland by his father, Georg Benjamin, where they were able to make a new life for themselves and eventually settled in York, England.
Edgar met my mother, Mary Ryan, during the 1960’s. She was born in County Tipperary, Ireland and was part of a Catholic family that were primarily farmers. Mary decided to train to be a nurse and she travelled to York, England when she was 19 years old to begin her training.
Edgar Benjamin and Mary (Maureen) were married in 1966 in York. They had a daughter in 1970 and a son in 1971. Unfortunately Edgar died suddenly in 1981 aged 53, leaving Maureen to bring both children up alone.
The rest they say is history……