Jeannine was born in Paris on 24th February 1935. She was the second of seven children to parents Gustave-Adrien and Ginette Zelikowski-Guttel. They were a religious Orthodox family and Jeannine was very close to all her extended family.
When war broke out in 1939, it wasn’t safe to stay in Paris. Jeanine’s father joined the French army while she and the rest of the family went to Megeve, near the border of Italy. Then on to Laprugne, in the Allier department of Vichy.
When the Nazis started to round up foreign Jews in the Vichy Zone, the family moved to Brout-Vernet. Jeannine’s father had joined them by this point, and became director of a home for refugee children.
The presence of the Germans in occupied France was increasing and life became more dangerous. Fortunately, it was arranged for the family to go to Switzerland, but they couldn’t be together at first. In 1945 the family members gradually moved back to France and were finally reunited.
They discovered that a lot of the extended family had perished in the Holocaust. Although there were shortages and rations, life went on peacefully and Jeannine started attending a lycee. She went to university to study Maths then, for a few years, she taught Maths and Kodesh (Jewish studies) at a religious secondary school.
When she was of marriageable age, Jeannine was introduced to Naftoli Scher (Tuli) who was from Hungary and had moved to London after the war. In 1958 they were married, and the newlyweds settled in England. It was a real culture shock for Jeannine, but she adapted and slowly learnt the language.
Jeannine and Tuli lived in Stoke Newington where they had their eight children. In 2000, once all the children had left home, they moved to Manchester to be near three of their married daughters who lived there.
In May 2007, Jeannine and Tuli managed to go on a family reunion to Hungary. All of their children came, together with many of Tuli’s grandfather’s descendants. Sadly, Tuli passed away in early 2016. Jeannine is still living in their home in North Manchester and spends lots of time with her daughters and grandchildren. She has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
