Manfred Goldberg

Manfred Goldberg
MBE BEM
Goldberg in 2023
Born(1930-04-21)21 April 1930
Kassel, Hesse, German Reich
Died6 November 2025(2025-11-06) (aged 95)
London, England
Alma materNorthampton Polytechnic (present-day City St George's, University of London)
Years active2000s–2025
OrganizationHolocaust Educational Trust
Spouse
Shary Schechter
​
(m. 1961)​
Children4

Manfred Goldberg MBE BEM (21 April 1930 – 6 November 2025) was a German-born British electronics engineer who survived the Holocaust. He went on to become an educator and public speaker, working with the Holocaust Educational Trust to raise awareness of the Holocaust.

Biography

Manfred Goldberg was born in Kassel on 21 April 1930, the elder son of Galician born textile merchant Baruch "Benno" Goldberg (died 1986) and Rosa Seeman (died 1961), both Polish Orthodox Jews.[1][2] He attended a Jewish primary school.[2] Just before the outbreak of World War II, his father escaped to the United Kingdom in August 1939.[3] In December 1941, Goldberg, alongside his mother and little brother, was detained and deported to the Riga Ghetto.[3] His little brother was later killed by the Nazis.[4] In March 1943, while at the ghetto, he celebrated his Bar mitzvah.[3] In August 1943, he was sent to a labour camp near the Riga Ghetto where he was forced to work laying railway tracks.[3] During the Riga offensive in 1944, he was moved to the Stutthof concentration camp. Goldberg spent eight months doing forced labour at Stutthof and its subcamps Stolp and Burggraben.[3] Only a few days before the end of the war, Goldberg, together with his mother, was sent on a death march on a barge for six days.[3][1] On 3 May 1945, he was liberated by British troops in Neustadt in Holstein.[3][5]

Goldberg, together with his mother, moved to North London in September 1946 and was reunited with his father.[3][1] In North London, he studied at a crammer and worked first at a Jewish bakery and later as an electrician's mate.[1] He learnt English and graduated from Northampton Polytechnic (present-day City St George's, University of London) with a degree in light electronics.[3][1] After graduation, Goldberg became an electronics engineer.[6][7] In 1958, he joined Associated Electrical Industries, developing transistors, and later started a central heating installation business.[1][7] He married Shary Schechter in 1961, with whom he had four children.[1] Goldberg did not speak publicly about his experiences until the 2000s, when in his 70s, his synagogue asked him to give a talk on Tisha B'Av.[6][8] After that point, he spent the remainder of his life educating and lecturing across the country, working most notably with the Holocaust Educational Trust.[9] In 2024, he became the first participant in Testimony 360, an initiative by the Holocaust Educational Trust in which he answered more than a 1000 questions which were then trained with AI so that he could have virtual conversations with future schoolchildren. The project includes a virtual reality headset that includes footage of key locations in Goldberg's life which are accompanied by audio commentary and explanation from Goldberg.[1][10]

In July 2017, for the first time since moving to the UK in 1946, Goldberg returned to the Stutthof concentration camp together with fellow survivor and close friend Zigi Shipper, accompanying William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) on a state visit to Germany and Poland. There, he recited a Jewish memorial prayer for the victims of the camp.[11] In 2018, he returned to Germany for the installation of Stolpersteine for his family on Müllergasse Street in Kassel. During the installation, Goldberg recited the prayer El Malei Rachamim for his late brother Hermann for the first time, acknowledging his death.[12][13]

In January 2022, Goldberg was one of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust commissioned by the then Prince Charles to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.[14]

In January 2023, Frances Segelman created a sculpture of Goldberg's likeness for Yad Vashem UK.[15] Later that month, Goldberg spoke at a Holocaust Memorial Day event co-hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Israeli embassy in the UK.[16] In January 2025, he met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, shortly before the monarch's visit to Oświęcim to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.[17]

In 2020, Goldberg was awarded a British Empire Medal for his services to Holocaust education.[1][18] In June 2025, he was awarded an MBE by Charles III, for his services to Holocaust remembrance and education.[19]

Goldberg died in London on 6 November 2025, at the age of 95.[1][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Manfred Goldberg, Holocaust survivor who shared his story with thousands of British schoolchildren". The Telegraph. 11 November 2025. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b "We remember Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, 95". USC Shoah Foundation. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Holocaust Educational Trust – Manfred Goldberg MBE". www.het.org.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Manfred Goldberg, Holocaust survivor and voice of remembrance, dies aged 95 – English Section". www.polskieradio.pl. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Interview with Manfred Goldberg". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  6. ^ a b Kirka, Danica (26 January 2025). "Manfred Goldberg remembers the 'angel who was sent to save me' in a Nazi labor camp". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Teller, Neville (29 November 2025). "Manfred Goldberg: Holocaust educator par excellence". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  8. ^ Hooper, Simon (7 November 2025). "Manfred Goldberg: Holocaust survivor who said he was 'heartbroken' by Gaza dies aged 95". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  9. ^ Jordan, Eliana (6 November 2025). "Manfred Goldberg MBE, treasured Holocaust survivor and educator, dies at 95". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  10. ^ Pollock, Karen (11 November 2025). "Manfred's story reminds us that even after the greatest evil, goodness can endure". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Holocaust survivors return to concentration camp with royals". NBC News. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  12. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (27 January 2019). "The Last Survivors review – an extraordinary memorial to children of the Holocaust". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  13. ^ "Manfred Goldberg confronts the death of his brother". BBC Teach. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  14. ^ "RCIN 408758 - Manfred Goldberg (b. 1930)". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  15. ^ Grant, Brigit (20 January 2023). "Immortalised in bronze: Holocaust survivor who searched for brother for 70 years". Jewish News. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Foreign Secretary leads calls to remember victims of the Holocaust". GOV.UK. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  17. ^ Ward, Victoria (7 November 2025). "King pays tribute to Holocaust campaigner who has died aged 95". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  18. ^ "Manfred Goldberg". AJR My Story. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  19. ^ "No. 64759". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 13 June 2025. p. B20.
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