Sunday 4 December 2022

Husband of Holocaust survivor and São Paulo resident John F. Konig has passed away aged 95

John Konig

John Frederick Konig B.Sc.(Eng.), A.C.G.I., husband to former classmate of Anne Frank and Bergen-Belsen survivor, Nanette Blitz Konig, and resident of the city of São Paulo, Brazil since 1951, passed away on 9th November 2022, in São Paulo, his home for almost 70 years. He was 95 years old. 

He always said that he could do nothing for those who perished in the Holocaust, but for this survivor, his adored wife Nanette, he would do everything in his power to love, care and make her happy, and he kept by his promise. His total devotion to Nanette is something that is greatly admired and respected by his children and grandchildren alike. Nanette and John's love story is one of a kind and on an epic scale. With his passing, a great void has been left in her life that will be difficult to be filled by her loving family. Similarly, he lived and breathed for his family; their home of 63 years was referenced fondly as "The Cafelandia" which represented a welcoming beacon of love to all. 

A compassionate, kind and loving man, he had a keen mind to the end, was always involved in business matters, but also loved to read, and was a gifted photographer and destined to be a film director, but he studied engineering instead as he said he needed to make a living. He was ahead of his time, and always embraced technological advancements. He enjoyed everything that involved art, music and culture, as well as current affairs and history. He loved to travel and had a sense of adventure that brought him to Brazil in the first place.    

Born in 1927 in Budapest, Hungary, John lived in London from 1935 to 1951 when he became a naturalized British Subject and graduated with honors as a mechanical engineer from the City & Guilds College of the Imperial College of Science and Technology of the University of London.

Between 1947 and 1954, he worked in various engineering positions in England and Brazil, mostly with Messrs. Foster Wheeler and I.C.I.

Nanette Blitz

In 1953, he proposed to Nanette Blitz, former classmate of Anne Frank and Bergen-Belsen survivor, on a train to London returning from São Paulo, Brazil after the two had corresponded by mail for over two years; they were married in London that year. Nanette and John have three children, Elizabeth Helene Konig Kahn, Judith Marion Konig Arato, and Martin Joseph Konig.

Brazil became their permanent residence from 1953 and from 1954 to 1957, John was the Department Manager for E. R. Squibb in Brazil where he participated in the final stages of construction, start-up and operation of the first Penicillin Plant in the country.

1957 - 1960, he was a key member of the construction and start-up team as Technical Director at Pfizer, for both Argentina at first then Brazil, for the Guarulhos Plant after extensive training in the U.S. John was responsible for the production of antibiotics, pharmaceutical and veterinary products, and much more. 

By 1969, he had reached senior management level, becoming Vice President of Johnson & Johnson, Brazil where he worked until 1986. 

Retiring from Johnson & Johnson, he set himself up as a consultant for businesses that wished to open in Brazil as well as for established industries in the country.

In 1990, he co-founded and was partner for Injeflex Ind, e Com Ltda to manufacture state-of-the-art copper intrauterine devices (IUD) and was able to attend to backlogged orders from around the world as well as supply the local government as part of their Family Planning Programs. After selling his share of the company at the age of 93, he was given a contract to act as a consultant for them.

He was the proud recipient of the Quarter Century Honorary Life Member of the American Chamber of Commerce of São Paulo.

John and Nanette

John is survived by Nanette, 3 children, 5 grandchildren, 1 deceased, and 5 great grandchildren.

Contact details: elizkahn@aol.com


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Saturday 23 January 2021

The Ravenswood Wedding Venue in East Grinstead is a TWIA 2021 National Winner


22 January 2021 - East Grinstead - the Ravenswood Wedding Venue in Sharpthorne, near East Grinstead is a National Winner & South East Regional Winner in the Venue (Other)' category in The Wedding Industry Awards (TWIA), the other three Venue categories being Barn, Historic Building and Hotel. The Ravenswood which was a 2018 and 2019 TWIA finalist was up against 80 other wedding venues in the same 'Other' category this year. In 2018, The Ravenswood also won More Radio's Best business Award.

On hearing the news that The Ravenswood is a National Winner & South East Regional Winner this year, General Manager, said:

"It’s so fantastic to receive the TWIA wedding industry national award for “best other wedding venue” which covers Country Houses. Our team are over the moon that The Ravenswood has been recognized for what it is - an amazing wedding venue! The grateful reactions from our entire team when we won, show how much it means to us all that our wedding couples have given us such lovely feedback. The scores received from our wedding couples were mind-blowingly perfect. At these difficult times of the pandemic, with weddings being majorly restricted, it gives us all hope and joy to know that no matter what happens around us, we will continue to do what we love best, truly caring for our couples and wanting them to have a perfect day. It’s such an honour for the entire team to be recognized in this way and it has put a massive smile on all our faces. Thank you to all who voted for us!"

About The Ravenswood

Set in the rolling hills of West Sussex, The Ravenswood which can hold events for up for 150 guests provides a beautiful setting for your wedding, boasting 18 acres of lawns, gardens and lakes, beautiful function suites, thirty-six bedrooms (six of which have four-poster beds), and licences for indoor and outdoor weddings. The original part of the house was built in 1426 and over the years, it has had many interesting owners and occupiers, most notably Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, as well as Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. 
www.theravenswood.co.uk

About TWIA

Established in 2011, The Wedding Industry Awards, the most prestigious organisation of its kind in the UK, recognises and rewards the very highest standards in the wedding industry, both regionally and nationally, and helps couples make better educated decisions when looking for suppliers for their weddings.
www.the-wedding-industry-awards.co.uk

For more information, please contact:

John Wood
+44 1342 323750
+44 777 152 0001
jw@worldwidepr.net


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Wednesday 20 January 2021

Nicky Hopkins Royal Academy of Music scholarship awarded to Lukas DeRungs for second consecutive year

l-r: Lukas DeRungs and the Nicky Hopkins Award trophy with fans, John Wood, Dr Mark Oxborrow and Rhoda Zeffertt (taken before the pandemic).
Photo: John Wood

The Nicky Hopkins Award trophy
Photo: John Wood 
Nicky Hopkins

20 January 2021 - London - Highly talented jazz pianist, Lukas DeRungs, has earned the prestigious Nicky Hopkins Award for the second consecutive year.

The award came about as a result of the Nicky Hopkins memorial park bench in Perivale where Nicky lived as a child. The bench was crowdfunded by dedicated Nicky Hopkins fan, John Wood. There were surplus funds after the bench had been unveiled, so John donated them to the Academy and the Nicky Hopkins Memorial Appeal was born. Subsequent donations have so far created two, year-long scholarships, both of which have been awarded to Lukas. It is hoped that the Nicky Hopkins Memorial Appeal will continue to receive donations to enable more students to receive the Nicky Hopkins Award in the future and so benefit from studying at the highly prestigious Academy. 

Contributors towards the scholarship include the American musician and author, Deborah Grabien, also a dedicated Nicky Hopkins fan, and the highly acclaimed pianist, Chuck Leavell, who has been the principal touring keyboard player for The Rolling Stones since 1982 and has also toured and recorded with Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour and many more.

Here is the link to send a donation to the Nicky Hopkins Memorial Appeal: https://community.ram.ac.uk/philanthropy-pages/the-nicky-hopkins-memorial-fund 

Lukas was thrilled when he found out that friends and fans of Nicky Hopkins had supported him again with his studies for the 2020/21 academic year. On receiving the award, he said:  

“Being introduced to the life of Nicky Hopkins was very enlightening - thank you for sharing his musical legacy with me, and I’m very grateful for the support! For me, this award is both a big financial help and a huge honour. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to study at the Academy, more than ever since the pandemic, wherein many places have shut down, yet we are still able to have in-person teaching, ensemble rehearsals and even concerts! Personally, there is really no better place to be right now, and no better way to spend my time than doing this masters course amongst all these great musicians." 

About Lukas DeRungs 

Lukas DeRungs is a pianist and composer from Mannheim, Germany, currently living in London. In 2016, Lukas won first prize at both the International Jazz Piano Competition Langnau, Switzerland and the Yamaha Jazz Piano Competition Nuremberg, Germany. He holds scholarships from the Art Foundation Baden-Württemberg, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Nicky Hopkins Award. He is currently studying a Masters in Jazz Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, writing a suite for chamber choir & jazz ensemble, and working on his own projects, including the "Lukas DeRungs Quintet" and "Kleister".
www.lukas.derungs.de    

About Nicky Hopkins

The legendary session rock pianist, Nicky Hopkins (1944-94), played with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks and many more. Contributors to his memorial bench included Yoko Ono, Jimmy Page, Roger Daltrey and all members of The Rolling Stones. To mark what would have been his 75th birthday, a plaque was unveiled on Nicky's childhood home in Perivale. To further give Nicky the recognition he deserves, a documentary called "The Session Man" about his life and career is currently in production. 
www.thesessionmanfilm.com 

About the Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music moves music forward by inspiring successive generations of musicians to connect, collaborate and create. It is the meeting point between the traditions of the past and the talent of the future, seeking out and supporting the musicians today whose music will move the world tomorrow. 
www.ram.ac.uk

For more information, please contact:

John Wood
07771 520001
johnalexwood@gmail.com

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Friday 14 June 2019

Action-packed Sherlock Holmes novel finally reveals the truth behind the sinking of the Titanic


London – 14th June 2019 – The novel, ‘Sherlock Holmes and the great Titanic mystery,’ was published today on Amazon. The author, Valentine Palmer, is a leading authority on the loss of the Titanic, as his great uncle, Charles Herbert Lightoller, was the only senior officer to survive the sinking.

The 14th June 2019 is the 108th anniversary of the maiden voyage of Titanic’s sister ship, RMS Olympic. This date was chosen for the launch of this gripping novel in which Sherlock Holmes reveals the role played by Olympic in the hitherto unacknowledged secret of Titanic’s tragic loss.

"I wanted to involve Sherlock in a real crime that took place at a real time. I also wanted to present a fast-paced action-filled tale for 21st-century readers. Think, Sherlock Holmes meets Jason Bourne!", says author, Valentine Palmer.

‘Sherlock Holmes and the great Titanic mystery,’ takes the reader on a white-knuckle ride from New York to Paris and from Northern Ireland to the banks of the river Reine. The great detective then comes face to face with his arch enemy, Professor Moriarty, on board a ‘ghost ship’ that holds the secret to the Titanic’s last moments. Finally, it is on his own doorstep at 221b Baker Street, that Sherlock Holmes is shot and almost killed, but recovers sufficiently to discover what really happened to the Titanic, a truth too terrible to ever reveal.

The novel is available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle form:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherlock-Holmes-great-Titanic-mystery/dp/1098966465

Website: www.SherlockTitanic.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SherlockTitanic
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SherlockTitanic.com


About the author:
Valentine Palmer recalled his great uncle, second officer Lightoller, in his 2012 book, commissioned to celebrate 100 years since the Titanic’s loss. In his extensive research for his book, Palmer unearthed what, for him, appeared to be conclusive evidence of a giant maritime fraud.  His media appearances to speak of this, plus his various talks to interested groups, always lead to a wide division of opinion. A TV actor in almost 100 famous series, including Dr Who, he has also been a screenwriter and Hollywood script man.

For more information, please contact:

John Wood
+44 1342 323750
+44 777 152 0001
jw@worldwidepr.net


http://www.worldwidepr.net

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Wednesday 17 April 2019

Screening of "No Asylum" in presence of Anne Frank's stepsister to mark 74th anniversary of liberation of Belsen

Senior Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, Kinloss Synagogue; Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's stepsister; Simon Bentley, Chairman, Yad Vashem UK Foundation; John Wood, son of Belsen liberator, Leonard Berney. Photo by Hy Money
15 April 2019 - Finchley, London - To mark the 74th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp by the British Army, a special screening of the documentary 'No Asylum - The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story' was held at the Kinloss Synagogue in Finchley, north London on 15 April 2019.

Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's stepsister and Auschwitz survivor, who appears in the film, attended the evening event which was attended by around 100. Following the screening, Eva gave a short account of her life story and answered questions.

The late Belsen liberator, Leonard Berney, who was a 25-year old major in the British Army on the day Belsen was liberated on 15th April 1945, also appears in the film. Leonard's son, John Wood, was in attendance at the screening as was Simon Bentley, the Chairman of Yad Vashem UK Foundation, Holocaust survivors Freddy Knoller, Mala Tribich and Eve Kugler, and the renowned film producer Mark Forstater, author of 'I Survived a Secret Nazi Extermination Camp'. And proceedings were conducted by Kinloss Synagogue's Senior Rabbi, Jeremy Lawrence.

The evening event was co-hosted by the Kinloss Synagogue and Yad Vashem UK Foundation.

Rabbi Lawrence: "At a time of increased antisemitism and racism in the public arena, it is important to hear survivor testimony. Those who have witnessed the escalation of intolerance and abuse; those who have been rebuffed as they have cried out at persecution or as they have tried to flee, remind us of the dangers of standing by and hold us to account. 'No Asylum' is a powerful and relevant film for 2019."

About Kinloss Synagogue

Kinloss (Finchley United Synagogue) has a membership of 3,000 and is the jewel in the crown of the United Synagogue. It is a thriving community and hosts many social and educational events throughout the year.

About Yad Vashem UK Foundation

Yad Vashem UK Foundation believes in the importance of educating, imparting and bequeathing to future generations the legacy of the Holocaust to ensure that the tragedy is never forgotten, to honour the memory of those who perished and to impart the legacy of the Holocaust to shape a more humane future. Yad Vashem UK Foundation bears the responsibility of passing the torch of remembrance from the Survivors to the coming generations. There are growing waves of hatred and anti Semitism throughout Europe which must be repelled and the world must never be allowed to forget the lessons of the Holocaust.

About "No Asylum - The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story" (2015)

No Asylum, the Paradise Filmworks International feature-length documentary, brings Otto Frank’s voice to light through his recently discovered letters, which reveal for the first time, the emotional tale of how the world turned its back on the Frank family as he desperately tried to obtain visas to save his family from the Holocaust. Starring: Leonard Berney, Jonathan Brent Ph.D., Richard Breitman, Ph.D., Meta Doran, Buddy Elias, Estelle Guzik, Lydia Lebovich, and Eva Schloss (Anne Frank's stepsister).

High res images:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tc2RCC8wijoWWKdp9
Captions are given in the information section of each photo. Please photo credit those images marked "Photo by Hy Money" with "Hy Money".

For more information:

Kinloss Synagogue - www.kinloss.org.uk - 020 8346 8551

Yad Vashem UK Foundation - www.yadvashem.org.uk - 020 8359 1146

"No Asylum - The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story" is streaming on Amazon and iTunes: www.noasylumfilm.com To host a screening, visit: www.noasylumfilm.com/host-a-screening
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Thursday 28 February 2019

A scholarship in honour of legendary session pianist Nicky Hopkins has been set up at the Royal Academy of Music


Dr Matthew Ross, John Wood, Deborah Grabien (Photo: Christopher Gatelock)


London - Sunday 24 Feb 2019 - Around 20 fans, friends and family of probably the world's greatest session pianist and organist, Nicky Hopkins (1944-94), marked what would have been his 75th birthday at the Royal Academy of Music, where Nicky himself studied on a scholarship in the 1950s, by celebrating the formation of The Nicky Hopkins Award. The Award was created with a donation of £10,000.

Guests included Moira Hopkins, Nicky's widow; Graham Parker, former lead singer of Graham Parker & the Rumour; and Gray Levett, Nicky's former personal manager.

Graham Parker, Gray Levett and Moira Hopkins (Photo: Christopher Gatelock)

Last September, a beautiful memorial for Nicky - a park bench in the form of a piano (see: http://uptone.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-unveiling-of-nicky-hopkins-memorial.html) - was unveiled in Perivale Park, Nicky's birthplace. It was financed through crowdfunding with many big names among its 60 contributors such as all current members of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts) and Bill Wyman; Jimmy Page; Roger Daltrey; Kenney Jones; Graham Parker; and Yoko Ono, raising £6,000 in total which covered the cost of the bench (£4,000) leaving a surplus of £2,000 which was immediately donated to the Academy. The £8,000 shortfall was then single-handedly met by the former personal friend of Nicky, Deborah Grabien, who flew all the way from San Francisco to attend Sunday's celebration.

Dr Matthew Ross addressing fans, friends and family of Nicky Hopkins at the Royal Academy of Music (Photo: Christopher Gatelock)

The Academy will announce the name of the student to be granted The Nicky Hopkins Award later this year. Meanwhile, fundraising continues for the 2020/21 academic year and beyond, for as long as possible into the future.

To contribute towards 
The Nicky Hopkins Award, 
click here: www.bit.ly/Nicky-Hopkins

"The Royal Academy of Music is immensely grateful for the support of Nicky Hopkins’s friends, family, fans and fellow musicians. Thanks to their gifts, the Nicky Hopkins Award will enable a talented young musician to study at the Royal Academy of Music. It is an honour to know that Nicky’s memory will continue through the music-making of an aspiring Academy student." said Dr Matthew Ross, the Royal Academy's Senior Philanthropy Manager.

Deborah Grabien added, "There's a certain sense of coming full circle about this scholarship. But what will really define that circle, and our journey to it, will be the moment when that next set of amazing fingers comes to rest on a piano keyboard - because the Nicky Hopkins Award has made it possible."

Moira Hopkins, Nicky Hopkin’s widow (Photo: Christopher Gatelock)

The Nicky Hopkins Memorial Park Bench in Perivale, Ealing

The Nicky Hopkins memorial bench and the Nicky Hopkins Award were the brainchild of Nicky Hopkins super fan, John Wood. As a token of the Royal Academy's appreciation for the £10,000 donation, Dr Ross presented John Wood and Deborah Grabien with a beautiful glass trophy, engraved with the inscription:

"With grateful thanks from the Royal Academy of Music to the Friends of Nicky Hopkins for the Nicky Hopkins Award."

A trophy from The Royal Academy of Music to thank the contributors towards the 'Nicky Hopkins Award'

Nicky Hopkins (24 Feb 1944 - 6 Sept 1994) from Perivale, Middlesex, was an English pianist and organist. He received a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London; though classically trained at the Academy, it was his discovery of rock and roll, and Chuck Berry in particular, that led him to develop his own sense and style of boogie technique. He recorded and performed on some of the most significant British and American popular music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including John Lennon's 'Imagine' and The Rolling Stones' 'She's A Rainbow' and is widely regarded as one of the most important session musicians in rock history, perhaps even the most important. It is an almost impossible act to quantify his near-immeasurable contribution to songs and albums so many of us know and love. Indeed his performances are part of the fabric of classic rock itself. His almost magical ability on the keyboards enabled him to weave just the right sequence of notes, which Mick Jagger acknowledged when he said, “Come on, Nicky, give us some Diamond Tiaras!”. Diamond Tiaras were, of course, what Nicky always produced. www.nickyhopkins.com

For more information, please contact:

John Wood
+44 1342 323750
+44 777 152 0001
jw@worldwidepr.net
http://www.worldwidepr.net
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Thursday 6 September 2018

No Asylum UK Premiere: Anne Frank's Stepsister Holds a Q&A at Screening of Holocaust Documentary

Eva Schloss and Paula Fouce answer questions during the Q&A session after the screening (Photo: Eric Schloss)
London - 6 September 2018 - On Monday 3rd September 2018, "No Asylum - The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank's Story" was screened in the UK for the first time, at Conway Hall, London. The Holocaust documentary shows the desperate attempts by Otto Frank (Anne Frank's father) to get his family out of Europe to safety and save them from the Nazis.

This remarkable documentary came to be, following an incredible discovery at YIVO, the Institute for Jewish Research, by a volunteer who was sorting through some Holocaust archives when she came upon lost letters written by Otto Frank.

Otto and his family - his daughters, Anne and Margot, and his wife Edith - were refused entry by country after country around the world. The film documents the world’s failure to respond to the plight of the Jewish refugees and suggests global anti-Semitism as one of the reasons for this. 

Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's posthumous stepsister who appears in the film, and Paula Fouce, the film's producer, attended the premiere and, together, held a Q&A session after the screening. Also in attendance was John Wood, son of Bergen Belsen liberator, Leonard Berney who gives his account in the film of liberating the concentration camp in 1945 in which Anne Frank perished, aged only 15.

The screening-and-talk event was hosted by the mind body spirit events company, Alternatives, and Malcolm Stern, Alternatives' founder, acted as MC. Click here for the Facebook Live Broadcast of the Q&A with Eva Schloss and Paula Fouce: https://www.facebook.com/NoAsylumFilm/videos/271053763716971
Malcolm Stern hands the mic to a member of the audience (Photo: Eric Schloss)

Eva Schloss, Malcolm Stern and Paula Fouce (Photo: Eric Schloss)
"I have seen this documentary many times, but each time, I am really shocked...I mean, I went through it but I can't believe this really did happen. This should be a wake-up call; we should show it in every in Parliament for all the MPs everywhere in the world because they really should change their selfish policies," said Eva during the Q&A session.

Paula Fouce: "This film is so relevant at this particular time in our history because there are many similar conflicts and genocides wiping out populations today. Also, the current refugee crisis wreaking havoc in Europe mirrors that which happened during World War II."

No Asylum is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Vudu and XBox.

About Eva Schloss
Eva and her mother miraculously survived Auschwitz when it was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Eva's mother married Otto Frank in 1953. Today, Eva (89) who lives in London, works tirelessly in the field of Holocaust education. She is co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust UK. A hologram of Eva is now installed as a interactive display in several museums around the world, where she "personally" gives answers to almost every conceivable question she could be asked about the Holocaust and about her world-renown stepsister.

About Paula Fouce
Paula produced and directed No Asylum. A critically acclaimed author and filmmaker and President of Paradise Filmworks International, Paula’s films include Not in God’s Name: In Search of Tolerance with the Dalai Lama (PBS stations), Song of the Dunes: Search for the Original Gypsies (PBS stations), Naked in Ashes and Origins of Yoga.

About No Asylum
Released in 2015, No Asylum, produced by Paradise Filmworks International in association with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, co-produced by Stephen A. Kollins, M.D. and Elayne Kollins, The Kollins Family Limited Partnership, The Pinnacle Gardens Foundation and Michael Flores, and directed by Paula Fouce tells the story of Anne Frank’s father, Otto, who struggles to obtain visas to save his family from the Holocaust. This unknown chapter of Anne’s life is revealed through Otto’s letters that show how the world turned its back on the Franks, and millions of other families in the same situation. The full length of the film is 75 minutes, but a shorter educational version that contains less graphic content, currently being translated into several languages, is available. www.noasylumfilm.com

Media coverage of the UK premiere:

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