Finchley Holocaust educator Lesley Urbach dies at 69

Lesley Urbach, a Finchley resident who co-founded the Holocaust education charity Generation 2 Generation, died suddenly on 17 August 2026. She was 69. Urbach helped establish the charity in 2016 to train descendants of Holocaust survivors to share their family histories in schools and community groups across London.

Between 2015 and 2020, Urbach supported Syrian refugees in Barnet through the JUMP programme, a befriending project run by the Jewish Council for Racial Equality. She also worked to secure Synagogue of Sanctuary status for Finchley Progressive Synagogue earlier this year, a milestone she described as a source of pride.

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Family history shaped her work

Urbach’s parents, Eva and Arnold Urbach, fled Nazi Germany separately in 1938 and 1939. Eva escaped on the Kindertransport, while Arnold served in the British army and later worked as an interpreter at war crimes trials. Eva’s parents were murdered in Auschwitz after attempting to flee to South America.

In 1947, three trunks containing Eva’s parents’ possessions were returned to the family. Urbach and her brother Peter donated one of the trunks to the Imperial War Museum in London, where it is now part of the permanent Holocaust Exhibition.

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Community involvement in Finchley

Urbach was an active member of Finchley Progressive Synagogue and Beit Klal Yisrael. She studied Jewish history and culture at Southampton University after retiring from the National Careers Service in 2012. Earlier, she co-founded the Remembering Eleanor Rathbone Group to highlight Rathbone’s advocacy for women and refugees.

A close friend, quoted in The Guardian, described Urbach as warm, gregarious and culturally voracious. She was a godmother to many of her friends’ children and remained a mentor to Holocaust survivor descendants through Generation 2 Generation until her death.

“She was funny, warm and gregarious, and culturally voracious. She loved the theatre, and very much enjoyed music, especially jazz.”

Friend, quoted in The Guardian

What happens next

No funeral arrangements have been announced. Generation 2 Generation said it will continue its work in schools and community groups. Finchley Progressive Synagogue has not yet confirmed plans to mark Urbach’s contribution to securing its Synagogue of Sanctuary status.