Leeds couple Arek and Jean Hersh handed highest rotary honour in surprise visit

Holocaust survivor Arek Hersh MBE, 91, and his wife Jean, 86, were told yesterday of their Paul Harris Fellowship from the Leeds Elmete Rotary Club for their significant contribution to building a “better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world”.

Mr Hersh’s daughter Michelle Tamam and granddaughter, Avital Tamam, presented the pair with certificates.

The couple, who have been confined to their Harewood home during the coronavirus pandemic, had no idea about the award.

Michelle said: “He was shocked and surprised. It was so very, very gorgeous.”

Mr Hersh said: “I’m very honoured about it - it was unexpected.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Hersh said: “I think it’s very, very kind of them. Both my husband and I are highly honoured.

“We’ve been in the house, like people of our age, for three months,” she added. “It made our morning a joyful occasion.”

Mrs Hersh said it was her husband who had been involved with the rotary club.

But its president, Dr Ken Garrett, said: “Jean is Arek’s right arm and contributes a huge amount to his work as a constant companion and prompter.”

Mr Hersh was born in Poland but came to England as a boy in 1945 when World Jewish Relief, then known as the Central British Fund for German Jewry, rescued child Holocaust survivors by bringing them to the UK.

His story was told in The Windermere Children BBC drama this year.

The award is named after Paul Harris, the international rotary movement’s American founder.

Dr Garrett said the fellowship is handed to people “in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world”.

He said: “As you may know the motto of Rotary is ‘Service above Self’ and Arek and Jean personify this”.

Mr Hersh has been a member of the Leeds Elmete Rotary Club at Bardsey for 14 years but has been unable to join the group’s weekly Zoom meetings in recent months.