REFUGEE
Born in Berlin, Joachim’s parents were Felix, a lawyer, and Lisbeth Adler. They were Jewish.
Joachim had a very happy childhood and remembered playing for hours with his younger cousin, Frank.
Everything changed when the Nazis came to power. Joachim was just ten years old. His father had to go into hiding and Joachim found that his neighbours now threw stones at his house, as well as threatening him (and occasionally assaulting him).
His parents managed to get Joachim and cousin Frank out of Germany, sending the boys to the UK.
Upon arrival, Joachim and Frank were sent to Bunce Court, a Quaker funded school in Otterden, Kent, which was a school for German children.
Back in Germany, Joachim’s parents were arrested. Shortly afterwards, they both died in a concentration camp.
Joachim left school in 1944, and was sent to a hostel in Birmingham, run by the Central Office for Refugees.
His first job in England was as a clerk to a gunsmith, and then he worked for a bike fittings factory, followed by a chemicals company.
From there, he went to the Birmingham city salvage department before Joachim finally became a civil servant in the Employment Office – where he spent the rest of his working life.
Joachim was extremely busy outside work. He was determined to improve his education, so he took evening classes at the College of Commerce (now Birmingham City University) and got a BSc in economics.
He loved travelling and visited Russia, China, the USA and Peru. Just before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Joachim took a very emotional trip back to the city of his birth.
Joachim was an active member of the International Friendship Group, whose aim was to break down barriers between nations, and he used his own childhood experience as his driving force.
Joachim also joined the AJR (Association of Jewish Refugees).
In recent years, Joachim got involved in ‘Safe Passage UK’ and frequently lobbied MPs to allow child refugees into Britain.
Joachim joined the Birmingham Ramblers and went on coach trips with them, discovering hill-walking and making many new friends of all ages.
Joachim rediscovered his religion, joining the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue – and became involved in many inter-faith events.
Through the synagogue, he took up various forms of dancing. Well into his eighties he was attending two dance classes a week.
Joachim loved Morris dancing the most and joined a team, with whom he kept on dancing until he was ninety.
As Joachim got older, he needed care. The AJR arranged for a lady called Marilyn Thomas to become his carer. He was very attached to her and they became firm friends.
At his death, his rabbi Margaret Jacobi said, “He was a kind and gentle man, asking little and giving much.”
His cousin, Frank, now an artist of international renown, survived him – but died shortly afterwards.
RIP – Refugees International Purpose
