Marion Koppel

Marion Koppel was born in February 1924 in Krefeld to parents Hugo Koppel and Hilde Koppel née Goldstein. Her father had his own import -export business specialising in fats for making soaps. Marion remembers a happy upbringing with grandparents in nearby Bochum. The family attended synagogue in Krefeld on high holidays until it burnt down during the November pogrom. Her father took her out of the Lyzeum before Jewish children legally had to leave state schools and she attended a commercial college until her emigration.

Her father was taken to Dachau in November 1938 and urged his wife to do everything possible to get him released and organise the family’s emigration. Marion’s mother phoned a business friend in Brussels, Roman Algoet, who told her that he was setting up a factory in Slough, to produce margarine, and could offer her husband a job. They left in July 1939 and were able to take all their furniture and more exceptionally, they were able to bring their dog. The dog was quarantined in Watford in kennels for six months until he was reunited with his owners in Slough. 

Settling in was not easy, although Marion and her parents had attended English lessons in Germany. Marion studied at a commercial school in Slough and soon started her first job as a short-hand typist with the Eton Rural District Council. Her father was interned on the Isle of Man until the factory in Slough applied for his return. Thanks to the refugees’ club in Slough, the family met other refugees and Marion was made aware of the Linguists’ Club in London and The Hyphen, where she met other young refugees. After the war, Marion got in touch with a cousin in Krefeld who had survived being half-Jewish. Marion moved to London and worked as a secretary for many years. Eventually, she moved back to Slough to take care of her mother. In retirement Marion volunteered for the AJR and a local school reading with young children.

Key words: Krefeld, Germany. Koppel. Goldstein. Bochum. Goldsteinweg. Slough. Margarine Factory Bucks Margarine, Slough. Roman Algoet, Brussels. Linguists’ Club (Hyde Park Corner). The Hyphen. Eton Rural District Council