Glasgow’s beloved Henry Wuga dies age 100

On Sunday the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust sadly announced that Henry Wuga had died, just a month after celebrating his 100th birthday.

Henry Wuga has lived an extraordinary life. At just 15 years old Mr. Henry Wuga was evacuated from Nazi Germany, escaping to Glasgow where he became instrumental in educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust. He spent the majority of his life working to preserve records of the Holocaust; enabling people to learn about his remarkable life while guiding the community that had taken him in as a child refugee.

He later married and raised a family with Ingrid Wolffe, a fellow German-Jewish refugee. The couple continued to play an active role in engaging with schools, delivering speeches and classes on the Holocaust.

“When Henry and his wife attended Jewish Care Scotland clubs from time to time it was a great privilege to have them here.” Jewish Care Scotland’s Honorary President, Maureen Solomons reflects on Henry and Ingrid’s relationship with JCS.

At one point, Wuga worked as a ski instructor for the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association where he taught veterans who had lost limbs to ski, for which he was named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999.

JCS’s Head of Community and Wellbeing, Lynsey Allan recalls: “In later years Henry supported his wife, Ingrid. Ingrid was a great character at the club and I remember she particularly enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, as well as an occasional afternoon snooze! I was always touched by the sight of Henry waiting to collect her from the bus at the end of the day. They were clearly a great partnership and a loving couple.”

As renowned figure in the Glasgow-Jewish community Henry was a dedicated Holocaust educator whose light shined on many. His story lives on in everyone who was lucky enough to hear it.