Every year, on or around 8 May, a number of the Boys and their families come together from around world for a reunion in London to celebrate the ‘45 Aid family. The reunion is timed to coincide with the anniversary of many of the Boys’ liberation at the Theresienstadt ghetto. The event commemorates those who were lost and celebrates the survivors who built new lives.
The Boys were child and teenage Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after World War II for rest and rehabilitation.
Members of the Boys were held in Nazi labour and concentration camps and used as slave labourers. Others survived the war in hiding or on the run.
Since 1965, the ’45 Aid Society has held an annual dinner.
The Reunion Dinners are very much a family party for the Boys. They are often joined by politicians, celebrities and dignitaries, keen to celebrate with the extended family of the Boys. The Boys travel with their families from Canada, USA, Israel, all across the UK and from Europe. They share stories, tell jokes, dance, laugh and remember.
Traditionally, the reunions are an opportunity not only for the Boys to catch up but also to introduce their children and grandchildren to the ’45 Aid family and to the wider community.
The Reunion events are even more important today, both for the few Boys who are still with us and for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who attend in their hundreds. The younger generations keep in contact via the Second and Third Generation Facebook Group , the 45 Aid Instagram page, and via this website. The Reunion is an important event for the Boys and their families and will remain a key date in the ‘45 Aid Society calendar.
In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic a virtual reunion was held online and included candle lighting by more than 100 families of the Boys and a film of the celebration of the ’45 Aid Society trip to Prague to recreate the iconic 1945 photo. You can watch the 2020 virtual reunion film below, along with films of Reunions since 2016.
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