#interwovenhistories

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Oral Histories

By Annderley Hill

Image: Hartwig Repper 1936      

Contacting Synagogues in Leeds in the hopes of getting some people involved in sharing some oral histories did not prove as lucrative as I had hoped. It did get me and Emma Storr in touch with Helen Frais from the Jewish Archive through whom it seems like there will be some opportunities in the near future. 

I also did get put into contact with the son of a Jewish immigrant who was involved in the textiles industry in Leeds. I found this one story particularly interesting as it was not focused on Jewish tailoring as the majority of what I had read about was entirely centred on and I was excited to add something different to my research. I shall attempt to put a very cut down version of the information I have in this blog post. 

I met with David Repper who told me about his father Hartwig (Harry) Repper who fled Germany during the Second World War and moved to London in 1938. Initially Harry worked in Denfords in London making armaments for the war and when they moved to Halifax during the Blitz he moved with them. With the help of a relative Harry bought a company called James H heal who made textile machinery, including a range of basic testing instruments. Harry led the company from 1946-1982 during which time the company achieved notable success and grew substantially.  

Many Leeds textile firms, including Jewish owned companies like Burtons and Marks and Spencer’s, relied upon these instruments.  Some machines were even developed in close collaboration with Marks and Spencer’s and carried their name and logo. 

James H heal also cultivated a close relationship with Leeds university, particularly under the management of Harry’s son David, there is a James Heal laboratory within the university and the school of design has collaborated on many projects with them. David was also kind enough to provide some documents from his father to our research. 

Below we have a phot of Hartwig in 1936 when he was still living in Leipzig Germany. I also have a copy of his Immigration card which tells us valuable demographic information such as his German address, Leeds address, marital status job and nationality at the time that he moved to England. This story has been a great starting point for learning about how to collect oral histories and I hope to continue with gathering them for this project.

 Image: Hartwig Repper’s Immigration card, 1939

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Animation and Poetry workshops with Leeds Irish CHIME Group

Pavilion and Touchstone's BME Dementia Service partnered with Leeds Irish Health and Homes’ CHIME Art Group to deliver a three part workshop focusing on the groups ‘first impressions’ of Leeds when many of them migrated to England from Ireland.

Prior to the workshops, Teresa who runs the CHIME group had encouraged everyone to write about, draw and collect photos and objects which helped them to think about their heritage, culture and experiences of moving to England. When we arrived for the first workshop, we were thrilled to see two whole tables filled with memorabilia, stories, poetry and personal photographs from the group’s collective experiences.

“I’ve been interested in finding out about a ‘part’ of life that I would never have been able to access”

We wanted the workshops to stimulate discussion and provide opportunities to be creative and share stories in unusual ways, so we arranged for  Leeds Animation Workshop to work with the group to create their own personal animated stories which would become part of a group film. Alongside this, poet Ian Duhig worked closely with people to write their own poems, contribute towards a group poem and share their personal experiences through creative writing.

The group discussed themes such as food, music, cultural events and social activities, the differences they found between themselves and local Leeds communities and how different England was compared to their expectations. One lady told her story of how she thought England would be grey, run down and miserable. Upon her arrival here she found it was complete opposite of this; it was a land “paved with gold”, she saw lots of beautiful trees, flowers, animals and she particularly remembers seeing Geese!

One lady recalls the day she came over from Ireland to Leeds:

“I remember it was 1968 and I was getting the boat over from Ireland. It was one of those huge old Irish Ferries. My sister bought me a bright orange suit to wear! I remember it being a warm day…the sky was blue that day and the water was calm.”

People shared stories about their social activities and events which the whole community got involved in:

“Every street used to have a bonfire. There was a ‘bonfire boss’ and nobody else was allowed to touch the bonfire.”

“People would bring out their old furniture to sit on and watch the fire, and then before they went home again they would throw their seats onto the fire!”

“We used to have a ‘winter hedge’ (clothes horse), we called it the ‘winter ‘edge’ though. It was called that because we couldn’t hang our clothes out on the hedge in winter. We used to make dens using that and our bed sheets!”

“I remember we used to hang tea towels out on the hedge and the goats next door would eat them!”

We reflected on the hard times too, we talked about the war and difficult times trying to settle into work here. Many people remember Leeds to be very polluted and full of smog. Lots of children got poorly with bronchitis and related illnesses.  Fond memories of meal times with the whole family were shared too:

“You’d always remember your parents putting down a huge pan of potatoes on the table… They’d say “Here are your spuds, here’s the butter… tuck in!””

These workshops have been an excellent way for the group to work together, share stories and learn from each other. It has also been an opportunity for everyone to be creative in new and different ways:

“I am in my 70s, I have never made an animation before in my life…I never thought I could do some of these things”

“I have really enjoyed recounting stories about Leeds in the early 1960s that brought back good memories”

“I enjoyed the chance to talk about memories I’d nearly lost and write about them”

In the upcoming weeks, Ian and Leeds Animation Workshop will be collaborating to piece together all the brilliant material from the workshops into a short film showcasing all these personal stories and everyone’s animation and poetry. Pavilion worked to record people’s oral histories as part of these workshops too, which will be shared within the group film. Keep an eye out on our website for chance to see the film in the near future!

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Touchstone’s Cha Da Cup group co-create and publish poem with Ian Duhig

Continuing our partnership with Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service, poet Ian Duhig hosted two workshops with the Sikh Elders Cha Da Cup group who regularly attend Touchstone. The workshops have been a fantastic celebration of food, culture and personal stories and have resulted in the group poem ‘The Meaning of Food’. We are pleased to share that this group poem has been selected for publishing in the new Sewerby Hall Cookbook by New Zealand artist Ahilapalapa Rands.

These workshops have been a ‘feast of words’, as Ian encouraged the group to think about their favourite food, and what was special about it. We explored everything from how it is made, who it is made by, the ingredients, how long it’s cooked for, the smells, the textures, the taste and the whole experience of eating. The theme stimulated rich discussion about everybody’s favourite meals and what makes them extra special; it was fascinating to hear the stories, memories and experiences of enjoying everyone’s most savoured meal.

“My wife doesn’t eat meat, and I do. She cooks me food with meat in but even though she never tastes it, it’s always perfect.”

“I would eat dal every single day, and I’d always be happy. There are so many different types of dal, and it’s always got ginger, garlic and turmeric. Each ingredient is good for your body in different ways, which is why we always have them.”

The group explored their first impressions of British food, which they described as “pheeka”, meaning bland and unseasoned in Punjabi. They did, however, express their love of a nice portion of fish, chips and mushy peas wrapped in newspaper. This happy memory of food brought back treasured times by the beach, in the warm summer sunshine, back in the day when chips were just 6p a portion!

The discussion of food brought back other memories, for some people the discussion reminded them of times before they moved to England.

“I left India when I was very young. We moved to Africa, but I always had this memory of walking through the villages in India and you could smell the cooking coming from each house. For years, I craved that food so much, until I finally went back to India 36 years later.”

“There’s nothing I don’t like. It’s all in the preparation for me. If it is made with care, I am happy. My favourite would be boiled rice with vegetables, garlic, ginger and green chilli. I like it spicy.”

“Sometimes I make chapatti. You can have different breads too; roti, bhatura, salty and aloo potatoes are stuffed into the roti. I just can’t pick one, I love every food!”

“I make my own yogurt. I boil milk, and then use my finger as a temperature gauge to see if it’s hot enough. Then I add a little bit of culture and mix it and put it into my flask at 10pm. By the morning it is good, and ready for me to enjoy. I love it and my wife loves when I make it. I was shown how to use my finger to tell the temperature when I was a child. I am known as the yogurt maker in my family.”

“I love corn chapattis. I’d walk to London for a corn chapatti.”

The discussion highlighted how integral food is to our identity and culture. Sharing food is an important aspect of our social lives, and we love to share and enjoy food together. After each session, we get together to share a delicious warm curry.

Throughout the workshops, Ian encouraged the group to think about their foods in terms of poetry and some group members are planning to work on their own piece of poetry to bring to the group and share in our next session.

Interwoven Histories aims to engage elders from different BME communities, and in the upcoming months we will be reaching out to people from different communities. If you know someone or a group of people who may like to get involved in this creative project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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Dr Helen Graham discusses the concept of archives alongside their political and structural forms

This presentation was delivered as part of Alternative Histories: Interrogating the Archive, Wednesday 14 June 2017 at Leeds Central Library.