Stanley Fisher, a former British Jewish soldier from Birmingham, has died at the age of 101, the UK Jewish news site Jewish News reported Thursday. Fisher was among some 60,000 Jews who served in Britain’s armed forces during World War II.
Fisher took part in the Normandy invasion in 1944 and was later posted near the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as it was liberated by British forces in April 1945.
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Stanley Fisher, left, with Marvin Karsh last year
(Photo: AJEX – The Jewish Military Association)
In a 2023 interview, Fisher described the horrors he saw at the camp and said they left him deeply traumatized. “If someone fell by your side, you just carried on,” he said. “But the nightmares stayed.” For many years, he said, he struggled to speak about what he had experienced and chose to remain silent.
Dan Fox, chairman of the Jewish Military Association, paid tribute to Fisher, saying he “landed at Arromanches in June 1944 and fought across France, into the Netherlands and eventually Germany, ending up stationed one mile from Bergen Belsen, never forgetting what he saw there.” The horrors of the camp left lasting psychological scars, and Fisher suffered nightmares for many years.
His silence was broken only decades later. His grandson, who researched the stories of Jewish soldiers in the British Army for his doctoral work, interviewed him. Gradually, Fisher began to open up and share his memories of the fighting and the camp. He was awarded the British Empire Medal for his service.
Alongside his military service, Fisher was a central figure in the local Jewish community. He helped establish the Orthodox synagogue in Solihull and was an active member of the Singers Hill Synagogue community in Birmingham. Even after turning 100, he remained involved, and on his 100th and 101st birthdays he read the haftarah to applause from the congregation.
Behind his public life was a large family. Fisher and his wife, Evelyn, were married for 73 years, until her death at age 98. They are survived by three children, Helena, Hilary and Alan, as well as five grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.