Plaque

Szmul Zygielbojm

Erection date: /5/1996

Inscription

Jewish workers' bund leader. Representative to the Polish parliament-in-exile. Szmul 'Artur' Zygielbojm, 1895 - 1943, took his life in protest at the world's indifference to Nazi extermination of the Jews. Lived nearby 1942 - 1943.
City of Westminster
Szmul Zygielbojm Memorial Committee

Site: Szmul Zygielbojm (1 memorial)

W2, Porchester Road

Wikipedia says "Every May, supporters of the Szmul Zygielbojm Memorial Committee gather at the memorial."

The New Yorker gives the address of Zygielbojm's flat as 12 Porchester Square, which, from the current street numbers, we believe was on the site  redeveloped in the mid-1970s into the yellow-tiled block of flats, The Colonnades, at the south-west corner of the square.  The New Yorker also explains that, in 1991, the plaque could not be erected on Zygielbojm's home because a resident of one of the 5 flats there, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, was afraid that, were the plaque erected, the building would become a target for anti-Semites. However, if we are right about the location of no 12, then that building did not exist in 1991, and its replacement, The Colonnades, had more than 5 flats.

The article also talks about "the garden behind the apartment" so we think it likely that the address of Zygielbojm's flat was actually 12 Gloucester Terrace. These houses back onto the gardens of Porchester Square so the error is understandable.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Szmul Zygielbojm

Subjects commemorated i

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

Read More

Szmul Zygielbojm

Politician. Born in Borowica, Poland. He became involved in the Jewish labour...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Szmul Zygielbojm

Created by i

Westminster City Council

The ancient parish of St Margaret's was divided into St Margaret's and St Joh...

Read More

Szmul Zygielbojm Memorial Committee

Group concerned with promoting the memory of Szmul Zygielbojm.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

David Cassidy - Phoenix Theatre

David Cassidy - Phoenix Theatre

W1, Stacey Street, Phoenix Theatre

We thank our colleague, Alan Patient, for the photos of the plaque. April 2020: Immediately after publishing this we were contacted by o...

1 subject commemorated
Lord Boothby

Lord Boothby

SW1, Eaton Square, 1

Robert, Lord Boothby, 1900 - 1986, politician, author and broadcaster, lived here, 1946 - 1986.

1 subject commemorated
Chelsea Embankment - Old Church

Chelsea Embankment - Old Church

SW3, Chelsea Embankment

There were at least 3 designs for lamps along the Thames Embankments. This one, by Timothy Butler, was used rarely so it is a pleasure to...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Earl Roberts

Earl Roberts

W1, Portland Place, 47

Earl Roberts (1832 - 1914) Field-Marshal, lived here.

1 subject commemorated
Rossetti & Swinburne

Rossetti & Swinburne

SW3, Cheyne Walk, 16

Rossetti kept a menagerie in his back garden, much to the annoyance of his neighbours. It included a bull, a white peacock, a kangaroo, a...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator