Korn - Erika - 1920-2001

Erika Korn, née Toch (1920-2001) came to London from Vienna in 1939. She initially stayed with a friend in London. She had come over earlier in 1930 as a maid. Her parents, Wilhelm (1879-1944) and Margarethe ("Grete") Toch (née Eichner, 1890-1971), stayed behind. Wilhelm Koch taught religion and Hebrew. Margarethe and her daughter were qualified dressmakers. Erika's brother Harry had emigrated to Palestine in 1933. In August 1942 Wilhelm and Margarethe Koch were deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp where Wilhelm died in October 1944. Margarethe survived and moved to the UK in October 1946 to stay with her daughter and husband.

Salman (Siamu) Korn (1904-1998) was born in Zablotow (Stanislawow, Poland), where his father had an estate. He was one of seven siblings. Salman Korn studied economics at the University of Vienna where he gained a doctorate. He came to England in 1938 with his brother-in-law, Selig Margulies, who had taught Hebrew with Erika Korn's father Wilhelm in Vienna. Selig married Salman's youngest sister, Frieda. She went back to her family in Poland when Salman and Selig came to London. Selig was going to send for her but Frieda died in the war. Selig Margulies later joined the British Army and became chaplain. The only sibling of Salman who survived the war was his younger brother, Berciu, who had joined the Red Army. He and his wife and two sons moved to Israel in the 1950s when Poland let Jewish people emigrate. Salman was a resident at Kitchener camp (Richborough, Kent) and later interned as an enemy alien at Mooragh camp (Ramsey, Isle of Man) after the outbreak of the war. He got married to Erika Korn in 1941. Their first child was born in 1945.

Wilhelm Toch's brother Moritz (1882-1949) and his wife Else (née Salomonowitz, born in 1889) also emigrated to the UK in 1939. Moritz Toch was a watchmaker in Vienna. He served in the First World War and was awarded the Silver Bravery medal. He got married to Else Salomonowitz in 1922.

From the guide to the Toch and Korn families: personal papers, 1891-1980, (Wiener Library)