My Voice: Marianne Philipps

Marianne Phillips was born in 1924 in Berlin. Following the Nazi rise to power, and her mother’s sudden death, Marianne’s father temporarily placed Marianne and her younger brother in a Jewish orphanage. This is where she met Harry, her future husband. Having experienced the aftermath of Kristallnacht, and following a brief family reunion, her aunt arranged for Marianne to come to England on the Kindertransport in 1939.

After initially living in Somerset, where she worked as a domestic and nanny, Marianne moved to London. She was reunited with Harry, and they married in 1943 and settled in Maidenhead, raising two children there. In later life, Marianne relocated to Manchester and immersed herself in her new community. Marianne’s resilience and strength shine through her narrative.

Marianne’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education.