The Russian Tailor of Belfast

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Sadly anti-German feeling - although not anti-Semitism - drove him from his home on Belfast's Antrim Road to London, never to return. When the centenary of Belfast was announced articles were written from the point of view of the city, I decided to write about the people who want to live and work together peacefully. History has a habit of repeating itself. In 1881, 17-year-old Philip Leopold saw a dark future in his native Ukraine and came to England and put down roots in Leeds.

When it was finished, Geraldine read the complete book to her mother in one night just before she passed away in March this year. The two worked closely to record a remarkable history not only of the family but of the years of strife, political unrest and everyday life in the city. When she came to live with me she was 89 and she brought with her boxes and bags full of letters and cards. The timing was on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution and the explosion of large scale manufacture where he found his strength in the tailoring trade as a master pattern cutter. Business took him to Belfast and four years later it seems the grass was greener and he met and married his wife and reared their eight children on the Emerald Isle. LAST month it was reported that the Kremlin is attempting to close down Russia's Jewish Agency, a Zionist organisation that helps Jews emigrate to Israel.

Some believe this is to try to stem the 'brain drain' caused by mass emigration of Russian Jews since the start of the Ukraine War. The countdown has begun to the second North Belfast Festival – Look North! Look North takes place from Friday 24 Feb – Sunday 26 Feb with an intensive weekend programme of over 40eventsand activities taking place over one weekend!

So, months before the 1941 Belfast Blitz, this highly classified Downing Street information led to their Donegall Street workshop being boarded up and relocated to Dromore, Co Down. During the 1920s, P. Leopold and Son had a lucrative government contract to make prison and military garments, so they were well placed to take advantage of a surge in demand at the beginning of the Second World War. There are many lasting tributes to the Jaffa family's influence on Belfast, including the bright yellow Jaffe Fountain, now located in Victoria Square, which Otto commissioned in honour of his father Daniel Joseph Jaffe who died in 1874. Geraldine has uncovered a story full of drama, In 1940 life was good but in September of that year Philip's son Sonny received an urgent call to a meeting in London where he was privy to top secret military intelligence that would lead to a drastic uprooting of the company's workshop.I asked when they would make up their minds whether or not they would take The Russian Tailor, to be told, 'This phone call is it.' His story is fascinating and takes the reader of Geraldine Connon's book The Russian Tailor of Belfast through the history not only of Philip's family and the history of the Jewish community in Belfast but also a social history of the city. The book is a delight to read, and features short chapters, the author's own poems and a library of historic photographs.

It took a month to sort though this wonderful treasure trove, and it was a joy to sit with her and listen to her memories. The community was one of great influence in Belfast. In 1914 Otto Jaffa was the largest exporter of linen. He held many civic offices including German Consul in Belfast and was the city's first Lord Mayor. Geraldine's great grandfather came from Leeds to Belfast 1920. He and his wife Rose, also a Russian Jew, settled and grew an important business and a family of influence. Two disused mills became dispersal factories working 24-hour shifts seven days a week manufacturing British army uniforms.With his knowledge of Russian flax and linen he worked in the 'rag' trade using mankind's oldest woven fabric, the basis of the famous Jewish tailoring houses. As their family grew and their roots spread, challenges were made and met by all of them, some self-inflicted, although it was the influence of his character which left a lasting impression on his granddaughter Beryl whom as she approached her 90th year finally agreed with her daughter, his great granddaughter Geraldine, to tell it all along with a precious photographic collection of over one hundred images.