June 23, 2010

Comment of the Chuchill Centre: Finest Hour is publishing tributes to the late Winston Churchill, grandson of Sir Winston, in our summer 2010 issue. We missed this interesting op-ed in the Jerusalem Post.


By ZALMI UNSDORFER

With the passing of the great wartime leader’s grandson, both Israel and the Jewish people lost an outspoken supporter.

JERUSALEM, 06 April 2010 (The Jerusalem Post) – With the death last month of Winston Churchill, grandson of the great wartime leader, both Israel and the Jewish people lost a good friend and an outspoken supporter.

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I was privileged to meet him in a business capacity, and remember very clearly the afternoon he welcomed me into his London home. “I am just taking leave of the children for Christmas,” he said, beckoning me into the sitting room. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting a few moments.”

 

The memory is so very clear because there on the wall, from floor to high ceiling, was this stunning life-sized oil painting of his grandfather.

I immediately thought of my own grandfather, who, on a cold night in 1945, asked his son to show him where the great man lived. They were the only figures standing in Downing Street when a limousine pulled up unexpectedly and the great man emerged. Seeing my bearded grandfather standing in reverence under the street lamp, he turned, tugged off his famous Homburg hat and – with a slight bow – almost barked: “Good evening sahr!”

It is a story which often regaled our family members on Seder nights.

 

While my meetings with “Young Winston” were strictly business, he began e-mailing me on Jewish topics from time to time. This was one of the early ones: “Dear Zalmi, London-bound from Kiev. Just a quick note to send you, in case you may be interested, my remarks re Babi Yar. While in Kiev I caught a very hairy kiss from the chief rabbi of Israel, an absolutely delightful man! Yours, Winston”

 

Read the entire article here

 

©Jerusalem Post

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