Contemporary witness Kenneth James Arkwright has died.
Since 2011, the Holocaust survivor has had a close friendship with the Foundation Memorial.
Kenneth Arkwright was born Klaus Ehrlich in Breslau in 1929. Part of his Jewish family can be traced back to Silesia since the 16th century. From 1943 he had to do forced labour, was deported to a labour camp in 1944, fled and went into hiding. In 1945 he returned to his hometown, but a few weeks later was forced to leave for Erfurt. Soon after, he began studying in East Berlin and in 1949 emigrated via Paris to Perth, Australia, where he started a family and became a successful businessman. On the occasion of the publication of his biography »Beyond Survival. From Wroclaw to Australia«, a conversation with Kenneth Arkwright and Wolfgang Thierse took place on 27 January 2011 in the New Synagogue Berlin – Centrum Judaicum. In addition, the foundation recorded an interview with him for the video portal »Sprechen trotz allem«. Since that time, Kenneth Arkwright has been closely associated with the Foundation Memorial.
It was not until January 2020 that Kenneth Arkwright visited Berlin together with his wife Judith and met with Uwe Neumärker.
In November 2021, Uwe Neumärker had read memoirs from Kenneth Arkwright on the occasion of the first transports to Kaunas 80 years ago, the eyewitness of which the young man had been in 1941.
On April 16 of this year, the contemporary witness celebrated his 93rd birthday.
Now Kenneth James Arkwright has passed away, leaving a big void that we will fill with our memories of him. Our thoughts are with his wife Judith, his children, relatives and friends. We will miss Kenneth James Arkwright.
