I was born Ruth Cohen in Middlesbrough in 1934 to Sylvia (nee
Sarah Labovitch of Leeds, sister of Jack Lamb, Gwen’s father) and
Harry Cohen. Apart from a short time in Southport in 1940-41, I
remained in the town until leaving to study medicine at the age of
18.
In 1963 I married Vivian Hurwitz of Leeds, where our 3 chi1dren
were born and grew up. Sarah and Ann now live in Israel with their
families, and Michael is in London. I have a flat in Jerusalem which
we visit regularly. Of the 4 Jewish children in my class at school
in M’bro, two emigrated to Israel in adulthood, as have 5 of the 6
children of the other two.
My father Harry was born in Hartlepool in 1903, one of the 6
children of Hannah and Chazan Shalom Cohen. He left school when he
was 12. Early school-leavers were supposed to go and work in the
munitions factories, but Harry was turned away as he was small. He
never grew taller than "five foot two and a bit" and he
would not let us forget "the bit". That height gave him a
streak of Napoleonic (but benign) toughness, driving him to achieve
against the odds and generally succeeding.
His sister Minnie taught him to sew, and by the age of 16 Harry
had opened his own drapers shop in Newport Road. He and his younger
brother Walter lived out their lives in M’bro. Together they built
up a successful property business, which led to other ventures as
well. The first bomb to fall in the area in World War II landed on a
house of theirs in Port C1arence. Before the war they had started to
build a housing estate which included "Carmel Gardens" and
"Ruth Avenue". The latter name appeared throughout the war
on the destination panel of the blue double decker buses travelling
that route. My school friends found it hard to believe that the
street really was named after me.
Harry was a man ahead of his time, helping with the children,
doing housework and cooking. He believed that a woman should be able
to earn her own living, even if married. He wanted both his son and
daughter to become doctors. My younger brother Alan is a consultant
radiologist in Chesterfield.
Shalom Cohen served as Chazan in M’bro, Stockton and Hartlepool.
In Rabbi Epstein’s absence, he would deliver the Shabbos sermon
with the aid of a book of the Rabbi’s own sermons, which he left
for that purpose. (Click here
for image of Rev Cohen's tombstone)
Congratulations to David and Donald on producing this Newsletter.
I look forward to reading future issues.
