She was the brave teenager who fled Hitler’s Germany aged 15 and worked tirelessly to tell new generations of the horrors inflicted by the Nazis.
Now tributes have flooded in to honour beloved German refugee Ingrid Wuga, who has died aged 96.
Born in Dortmund in 1924, she was able to flee on the Kindertransport a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War.
She was not given the opportunity to continue her education in the UK and soon after arriving in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, she took up a position of a nanny.
After a few months in England, her parents were offered jobs in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, and the family moved to Scotland.
Ingrid worked in a dress shop sewing collars on British Army uniforms. Her aunt and uncle who chose to remain in Germany, did not survive.
As the war progressed, “Enemy Aliens” were no longer allowed to live on the coast as it was feared they may send signals to the German army so the family relocated to Glasgow.
Ingrid later met and married her husband Henry, who also escaped the Nazis on the Kindertransport, at Pollokshields synagogue, Glasgow, on 27 December 1947, and they ran a catering business together for 30 years.
They have two daughters and four grandsons and two great-grandsons.
Ingrid, of Giffnock, was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Holocaust Education and Awareness in December.
In the last five years alone, more than 5,000 adults and children heard her testimony through the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Outreach Programme.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, paid tribute to Ingrid.
She said: “Ingrid was a Kindertransport Holocaust survivor who arrived in Britain at the age of 15 after being forced to flee her home and life in Germany.
“She and her husband, fellow Kindertransport refugee Henry, dedicated themselves to sharing their testimony and ensuring that the human history of the Holocaust lives on with young people.
“As a great supporter of our Scottish Ambassadors, the impact she had over the years is immeasurable and we will all remember her fondly.
“Ingrid will be greatly missed, and our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends, and in particular her husband Henry.
“We will continue to share Ingrid’s testimony, ensuring that she is never forgotten.”
The Wugas worked tirelessly for charities, especially BLESMA (British Limbless ex-Servicemen’s Association) and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow.
Henry spent 25 years giving skiing lessons to BLESMA members and was awarded the MBE for services to sport for the disabled.
Speaking on their 75th wedding anniversary, Henry said: “We are both 95, still enjoy good health and are very happy together.
“We arrived here as two penniless Jewish people and, through our work with BLESMA and fundraising for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, we have been able to give something back to the country which was so welcoming to us all these years ago.”
Kirsten Oswald, SNP MP for East Renfrewshire, said: “Ingrid Wuga, along with her husband, Henry, made a huge impact upon everyone they met.
“Hundreds of children in East Renfrewshire have heard them talking about the Holocaust, and the lessons we need to learn. She was just a really lovely kind person.”
The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) said: “Ingrid and her husband educated thousands of people, both young and old on the horrors of the Holocaust.
“She was warm and sociable, very cultured and loved music.
“Ingrid will be sadly missed and AJR send Henry and all the family our deepest condolences.”
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