Obituary

Marianne Burg (nee Marika Bardos)

Born Budapest, 23^rd July 1937
Died London, 25^th January 2007

Born Marianna Klara Bardos, daughter of Janos and Anny, a Budapest Jewish family in 1937, Marianne was still a young child during the German occupation of Budapest, in 1944. She survived through the efforts of Raoul Wallenberg: her father, a doctor, ran a field hospital in the Jewish Ghetto under Swedish consular protection arranged by him, which saved her family and so many others.

As a teenager under Communism, Marianne wrote extensively for press and radio, leaving school prematurely after her father's internment during the and untimely death in 1953.

After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Marianne fled, walking across into Austria to find passage to London, received by her Uncle, Julius Jakobovits. With proficient English, she quickly found work and finished her education part-time. Her mother followed her lead to escape Budapest and settle in London soon after.

Winning a scholarship to go to Oxford in 1960, she was one of only four women then at Ruskin College, the college of the Trades Union movement. Marianne forged friendships with students from across the University from all classes and backgrounds, and worked part-time, using her Hungarian and Russian skills in translating for Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press.

She earned her Diploma in Public and Social Administration in 1962 from Oxford University.

Marianne then trained for the Youth Employment Service, qualifying from Lamorbey Park, Kent, in 1964, to serve schools across ILEA & Barnet as a Youth Employment Officer until early retirement from disability in 1972.

She was typically individual, inspirational and took a true interest in all pupils whatever their ability or background.

Amongst her portfolio were the Bishop Douglass School, St David's School for Boys in Hendon, Friern Barnet County School, Waverley Secondary for Girls, and Manorside/Manorhill School.

The St. David's County Secondary for Boys Careers Master took note of her acuity, noting in 1969 "how accurate a trained interviewer can be in summing up a boy" as his greatest lesson and complimenting her comprehensive notes over more typically verbose meetings then in vogue.

Marianne was also fondly remembered in 1974 by the Headmistress of Finchley Manorhill and Manorside as having a "warm, sincere personality", taking "thought and time" for each interview, as "the girls mattered to her as people". The Deputy Head of Bishop Douglass also then noted her sincerity and intelligence, her positive self-belief and personal involvement in her work.

After marrying David, a fellow Holocaust survivor, in 1970, at Dollis Hill Synagogue, their only child, Jonathan, was born in 1971. They lived first in West Hampstead and Southgate, then settled in Willesden Green in 1976, to live nearby her mother, Anny, who herself died in 1998.

Marianne overcame her disability to take on academic study and volunteering for the next 25 years, deeply involved in both local and Jewish community work. Marianne was a much-loved member of Dollis Hill Synagogue, and retained membership of the ICG, UNISON and the AJR.

Her languages included Hungarian, Russian, & Serbo-Croat. She penned hundreds of poems & "news reviews", amusing friends and family greatly. Her Hungarian cooking was renowned to all guests in her house.

Her numerous qualifications included a BSc Social Science from PCL in 1983 and from the LSE an MSc in Social Policy and Planning and an MPhil completed in 1989.

Her thesis was "The Role of the State in the Development of Health Care in Hungary (1770-1985)".

She was remembered fondly by her peers as conscientious, kind and supportive to fellow students and lecturers alike.

A devotee of continuing education, she kept her teaching and guidance skills up to date right up to 1995 with a Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Counselling & Guidance from South Bank University. She was admitted to the Institute of Careers Guidance in 1993.

In the 1980s she taught Adult Literacy in Brent, lectured at PCL, and worked as a part time librarian at Help the Aged. Her outstanding contribution was at the Massoret Institute, where for 15 years she developed and taught pioneering courses on Community Care and Counselling for Orthodox Jewish women, nominated for the Chief Rabbi's Award for Excellence.

In the 1990s she helped variously at the College of North West London's Adult & Student Unit, Brent's "Lifetime Careers" service for five years, and Jewish Care's "Employment Resource Centre" in Finchley. She guided job-seekers and developed careers libraries.

Her final role, as volunteer at Brent's "Refugees into Jobs", gave her the chance to guide young newcomers to the UK, building rapport easily based on her own experience as a refugee 40 years earlier. Her unique empathy shined through despite the onset of diabetes and worsening blindness.

Retired, she continued to help family, friends and neighbours individually with financial or medical problems. Returning to Budapest for the first time after 46 years, in 2002, she quickly rekindled her relationship with her Hungarian friends and family. She frequented Budapest for the rest of her life, usually to her favourite spot, the Margaret Island.

She always remained devoted to her husband David, himself a well-known figure in synagogues in North-West London. In 2005 they attended Holocaust Memorial Day at Westminster Abbey together. She cared for him during his final illness that same summer.

Embodying Jewish principles of personal action for social improvement, Marianne is remembered as a true woman of valour.

She was an inspirational, witty, insightful, brilliant, determined, energetic and committed teacher, guide and student.

Marianne was committed to defending the downtrodden and helped hundreds of young people aim for their dreams.

Marianne died after a short illness and is survived by her son Jonathan.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday 26th August at 5.30pm.  The memorial and stone setting will be at Bushey Cemetery, Little Bushey Lane, Watford, WD23 3TP.   Following the service there will be a reception for mourners, at the Ramada Watford, which is close nearby.  All who knew her are welcome to attend.