June Ravenhall

June Ravenhall (1901–1984) is one of the British Heroes of the Holocaust. She was given that distinction for her efforts at saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust.[1]

Life

Ravenhall was born Elsie June Stickley in 1901. She was a native of Kenilworth who moved to The Hague with her husband, Leslie Ravenhall, whom she married in 1925.[1] The couple left Coventry for the Netherlands due to Les Ravenhall's business, and started a business importing Coventry Eagle motorbikes.

Wartime resistance

Their house and business were expropriated when the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. As a British citizen, and since Britain was then in war with Germany, June's husband was sent to a prison camp in Poland, and she relocated to Hilversum.

Despite the danger, she sheltered a young Jewish man in her home, at the request of the Dutch resistance. In 2007, 23 years after her death, three of her children accepted a medal and certificate on her behalf at a ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in London.[2]

References
  1. Lyn Smith (5 January 2012). Heroes of the Holocaust: Ordinary Britons who risked their lives to make a difference. Ebury Publishing. pp. 155–. ISBN 978-1-4481-1812-0.
  2. Brief profile of June Ravenhall in The Birmingham Post
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