Flight from Prague: The Making of a Refugee

BOOK LAUNCH EVENT

Czechoslovakia, 1938. As German soldiers cross the border, Jewish businessman Harry Lewy flees for his life. Danger and uncertainty follow him across Europe and through Nazi Germany until he finds refuge in Belfast. There, after the war, he is reunited with and marries his childhood sweetheart, dancer, choreographer and Holocaust survivor Helen Lewis (née Helena Katz).

In this powerful new book, Flight from Prague: The Making of a Refugee, their son Michael Lewis tells Harry’s story, drawing on memories, interviews, family documents and archival research. At this special event, Seamus McKee talks with Michael about the challenges of writing a family memoir and about how Harry’s journey speaks to the enduring plight of refugees.

This event is part of Aspects Festival.

Michael Lewis was born and grew up in Belfast. After reading Modern Languages at Oxford, he trained as a teacher at York University and taught in comprehensive schools in England for 35 years, the last twenty of which were as the headteacher of King Edward VII School in Sheffield.

After retirement in 2008, he took on a variety of roles, including as a member of the Employment Tribunal, the Independent Ethics Panel of South Yorkshire Police and the Teaching Regulation Agency’s professional conduct panel. In 2009 the University of Sheffield awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters in recognition of his contribution to education.

He is married to Petra and has two sons and three grandchildren.