Defend Stephen Kapos – free speech on Palestine
Published
by
Leah Levane
JVL Introduction
Forty Holocaust survivors/descendants have signed a letter supporting Stephen Kapos who has been called in for a police interview about the 18 Jan. Palestine rally.
If you can please attend the demonstration from 2 pm on Friday 21st March outside Charing Cross police station to support Stephen during his interview. Stephen is a survivor of the Holocaust in Budapest who has been attending pro-Palestine marches – along with many other Jews – to show his deep concern for the people of Gaza.
There is more information about the suppression of the marches, especially on 18th January. from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign here And here’s the letter from the 40 Holocaust survivors/descendants denouncing the persecution of Stephen Kapos for carrying a bunch of flowers.
We were extremely shocked to hear that the Holocaust survivor, Stephen Kapos, has been called in by the Metropolitan police for questioning about the 18 January pro-Palestine protest.
Any repression of the right to protest is bad enough – but to persecute a Jewish 87 year old whose Holocaust experiences compel him to speak out against the Gaza genocide, is quite appalling.
This very concerning development makes it even more important for Jews to speak out against the genocide.
We fully support Stephen.
Dr. Agnes Kory (survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Prof. Jacques Bude (Holocaust survivor – parents murdered in Auschwitz)
Ervin Somogyi (survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Lillian Rosengarten (born Gisela Lebrecht – refugee from Frankfurt 1937)
Prof. Haim Bresheeth (son of two survivors of Auschwitz)
Prof. Anne Karpf (daughter of a survivor of Auschwitz)
Mark Etkind (son of a survivor of the Lodz ghetto & Buchenwald)
Aurora Yaacov (daughter of a survivor of Dachau & Kaufering camps)
Dr. Peter Kapos (son of a survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky (daughter of survivors of the Holocaust in Poland)
Carolyn Gelenter (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Poland)
Andrew Feinstein (son of a Viennese Holocaust survivor)
Charlotte Monro (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia)
Miranda Pinch (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia)
Vicky Moller (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia)
Dr. Ursula Blumenthal (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany)
Sonja Linden (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany)
Peter Hall (son of a survivor of the Holocaust in Austria)
Col. Chris Romberg (son of a survivor of the Holocaust in Austria)
Yael Kahn (daughter of survivors of the Holocaust in Germany)
Beatrice Hoffman (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Austria)
Anthony Gimpel (son of Jewish refugees from Hitler)
Merilyn Moos (relative of those murdered by Nazis)
Prof. Miriam E. David (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany)
Ronnie Barkan (grandson of Holocaust survivors of Auschwitz & Dachau)
Joel Etkind (grandson of a Holocaust Survivor from Poland)
Sonia Routledge (granddaughter of survivors from Czechoslovakia)
Glenn Bassett (grandson of Austrian Holocaust refugees)
Ann Jungmann (granddaughter of 3 grandparents who died in Terezin)
Prof. Lara Braitstein (daughter of a survivor of the Holocaust in Belgium)
Julie D. Kosowski (daughter of a survivor – grandparents died in Auschwitz)
Peter Truskier (son of survivors of the Holocaust in Poland)
Prof. Pedro Tabensky (son of survivors of the Holocaust in Hungary)
Elsa Auerbach (daughter of Holocaust refugees from Germany)
Debbie Field (daughter of survivors of the Holocaust in Poland)
Erica Levy (daughter of a Holocaust survivor)
Daniel Waterman (son of a survivor of the Holocaust in Holland)
Eva Turner (daughter of Holocaust survivors from Czech Republic)
Anneke Deutsch (daughter of an Austrian Holocaust refugee)
Avigail Abarbanel (granddaughter of Holocaust survivors)
My mother was a Holocaust survivor (from Vienna, via Budapest and Paris to Felixstowe in Suffolk). I wish to have my name added to messages like this, if possible, please.
This list of signatories demands the attention of the world. These people know why they are speaking out to defend innocent civilians, and this document should be respected and read out in every Parliament in the free world. To ignore the very survivors of the Nazi holocaust is to show contempt for these courageous and compassionate men and women.
My father was taken from Torun , about 200 miles from Warsaw . He was sent as slave labour , but when he realized that his end of being useful was up , he escaped , along with another lad . He was two years in that hell , plus another year getting to France . I am glad that my father has died , so he has not had to go through what has been done , all using the memory of six million innocent lives .
One may note that this September will be the 20th anniversary of my old comrade Walter Wolfgang being manhandles out of Labour conference for having the temerity to heckle Jack Straw,
We could be forgiven for thinking that the police who have mostly gone shy and retired from public life would have more serious problems to deal with. They even took me in for questioning at the behest of Labour Friends of Israel who I had inadvertently upset. Their ex. parliamentary leader now elevated to the Lords along with ex. leader of Jewish Labour Movement.
All power and love to Stephen Kapos, whose constant presence on the marches has been so inspirational to us all. It is beyond unconscionable that the police have called him for questioning. We will be with him today in spirit.
Reading this has reinvigorated my comittment to oppose the genocide Palestinian and other people’s . Thankyou.
I am so sorry I did not see this notice in time to protest at the court, please can I be on the mailing list from now on to support Stephen? I suppose technically I am a third generation survivor as my grandmother spent 1944-5 hidden in a convent cellar and her husband’s brothers were shot and thrown into the Danube during the ‘Hungarian Days’ when the Arrow Cross fascists took over the city of Budapest. But this history was largely hidden from me growing up, so I don’t mention it. I’d just like to support Stephen as a valued friend! Please, if anyone from this campaign reads this message, let me know how to join via JVL.
I think the best way is to look out for JVL’s social media on Facebook and BlueSky….
I’m not against Israel October 7 gave them reasons to respond and revisal to hand back hostages.
I’m interested to no why heroic holocaust survivors are standing with pro Palestinian marches?
I am afraid I do not understand your comment; this article was precisely about a Holocaust survivor standing with pro Palestinian marches and being hauled in for a police interview for doing so.