Elena was born on 23rd June 1924 to Anna and Solomon Tenenbaum. She had a younger brother, Josie. She and Josie were born in Poland, where Anna’s family lived, but they spent their early years in Merano in the Italian Tyrol.
In 1933, with the rise of antisemitism in Merano, the family feared for their safety and moved to Milan. They adapted to their new life but, by 1938, when Mussolini enforced new antisemitic laws, it became increasingly difficult. Elena was excluded from her state school and her father wasn’t allowed to work. She remembers Jews being degraded and mistreated in the streets.
Elena’s parents wanted to get the whole family out of Italy. When this wasn’t going to be possible, they managed to arrange for the children to escape. In August 1939, Elena and Josie travelled to England with an exit visa. Elena was 15 but she had to pretend that she was 12. They arrived in Manchester but had to live separately from each other. Elena lived in Middleton at first, with the Quaker family who had signed for her entry. In October 1939, she was evacuated to Blackpool. Then, in March 1940 she moved back to Manchester. She lived in Jewish hostels and attended a Jewish school.
In 1942, when Elena was 17, she studied at Salford Technical College at night, whilst working during the day as an apprentice at the Jewish Hospital. She moved out of the hostel into different shared accommodation with other refugees and went on to work for the UK government, translating Italian radio broadcasts into English. After that, Elena worked at the Manchester Jewish Hebrew Education Board as personal assistant to the Head.
Miraculously, Elena’s parents survived the war and returned to Milan. The family were reunited in Italy but Elena’s parents encouraged her to go back to the UK where there were more opportunities and to obtain a British passport.
Elena married Leo Grosskopf at Crumpsall Shul on 30th May 1950 and settled in Prestwich. They had three children, Jonathan, Brenda and Debbie. The family used to go on wonderful trips to Italy every year to visit Elena’s parents.
Elena was very involved in charity work in Manchester. She and her friends arranged charity dinners for UJIA and Jewish Grammar School. In later years, she cooked for the Manchester Jewish soup kitchen. Elena and Leo had a wonderful, happy life together. Sadly, Leo passed away in March 1987.
Elena has seven grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.
