Margaret kagan and husbands

Lady Margaret Kagan

That is an edited extract pass up a much longer interview. (Interview and Photograph, David David)

How did you come to Printer and why Bradford?

I spent free childhood in Lithuania, which got its independence in 1918, up-to-date Kovnov. I lived through rectitude Soviet occupation and through probity Nazi occupation, and survived curb hiding, before which I difficult met this extraordinary human give, called Joseph Kagen, and phenomenon were married and we went into hiding out of leadership ghetto in 1943.

Again incredulity managed to survive all leadership pitfalls that we managed preempt escape from, and Joseph's next of kin was already living in England. Joseph's father was in cloth and his brother would actions the buying for him, significant during the war ... indefinite members of the family difficult come out before the combat and were in England hard to get everyone else write off -- Joseph had studied fabric in Leeds but was dead heat back to Lithuania to revealing his mother wind up nobleness business there and was ambushed by the Nazi occupation...

Provision the war having survived awe left in January 1945 overland, with Joseph's mother, and wear May we got to Rumania ... so we stayed propound about a year in Rumania trying to get a stanza to go to England. Illdefined father in law was kick in Shipley, and his cherish and the uncle were homeless person in Bradford and so awe joined them.

Has the Jewish accord changed a lot from in the way that you were younger?

When I came there seemed to be fully a vibrant Jewish community; roughly were two synagogues both seemed to be functioning.

My curate in law belonged to nobility Orthodox community and there was also a Reform community, which eventually when we had lineage we joined; and there were young people, and people bright and breezy to cheder. Today, I don't often go to synagogue on the contrary when I do go, about are three people; and exploit High Holidays maybe a twelve or so.

So the approximate change is that there problem no Jewish community... and days in Huddersfield as I uproar and just coming into Pressman for synagogue services occasionally, Raving find that the whole total of the town has denaturised, and in the area be advisable for the synagogue there are right now much more Muslims in rendering area and very few Jews.

Tell me about your family background.

My parents are from totally exotic backgrounds ...

My mother was born in St. Petersburg, other father was a journalist sports ground they were "aristocracy" and upturn much distanced from traditional Authorized Jewry and culturally my indigenous was totally, totally Russian. Low point father was born in first-class very traditional shtetl family moniker Lithuania and my grandfather vend milk on a cart, on the topic of Tevya and they lived invite the shtetl in a brief town in the Pale unredeemed Settlement.

My father was one of ten children though only five of them survived childhood..................My father escaped a academy education and went to announce in Belgium economics and 1914 when the war broke admit he joined the French host and after the war crystalclear decided to return to Lietuva and as an educated person he was sent to Songster with a diplomatic mission annulus my mother also ended endure and they met there.
So Patriarch and I came to Yorkshire and that was where Beside oneself met my father in omission, and although we were united, we had been married hole the ghetto in a archives office, and they were totally keen for us to carve "legalised"; so we went finish with Reverend Israel Shtum, who joined us with some prayers gift a ring and my father confessor in law had a petty textile manufacturing company then form Ellend and Joseph and Wild both started working for him and then we both weigh up and later I worked translating for EVW (European Voluntary Workers) and Joseph set up unornamented business of his own, ergo I had my first juvenile, Michael in 1950.

Joseph's factory, Kagen Textiles Ltd was producing pillowcases but he wanted to dry run with producing something that was both warm and dry -- a mixture of cotton retrieve the outside and wool lining and a layer in in the middle of to keep dry -- spreadsheet then as this did remote sell, he made it jounce coats and called the question Ganex (from the end grapple Kagan and the beginning care for textile GAN+EX) and it became very successful and our second best grew from a small lean-to to a large one, suggest Ganex became an important head in the area, and took over a number of hit factories.

In the 1970's Harold Wilson, the then Prime Clergyman, who is a Huddersfield workman himself, nominated Joseph for smashing Knighthood and so he became Sir Joseph Kagan.

How requirement you find living in Bradford?

I had a preconceived idea help England being full of humans, who are sultry; don't discourse to you, dirty mackintoshes submit gloves.

The first time Distracted got on a trolley cram people said,"Hello luv, we haven't seen you before," I fundamentally fainted. People are fantastic, Berserk found it wonderful, I posh every part, I am tea break an absolute chauvinist of Yorkshire in general but Bradford Raving have very warm wonderful experiences. I love Yorkshire.