My Voice: Jeannine Scher

The My Voice Project is a unique initiative by The Fed, Manchester's leading social care charity serving the Jewish community. The My Voice Project empowers Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK to share their entire life stories including experiences before, during and after the war years. This project involves a bespoke methodological approach, producing books that preserve their unique voices. The My Voice Project ensures firsthand accounts are remembered and valued for future generations, highlighting the critical role of individual perspectives in ensuring a deeper historical understanding.

Jeannine Scher was born in Paris in February 1935. She was the second of seven children in a religious Orthodox family. At the outbreak of war, her family moved to Laprugne in the Allier department of Vichy. When Nazis rounded up foreign Jews in the Vichy Zone, the family moved to Broût-Vernet, where her father became director of a home for refugee children, and eventually escaped to Switzerland.

Post-war, the family moved back to Paris, where Jeannine attended a lycée and went on to study Maths at university, after which she taught Maths and Jewish Studies at a secondary school.

Jeannine married Naftoli Scher (Tuli) and moved to England in 1958. They had eight children and later moved to Manchester, enjoying being surrounded by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jeannine's book is part of the My Voice book collection.