Fritz Lustig (31 March 1919 – 18 December 2017) was a German-Jewish emigrant to England during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Lustig was born on 31 March 1919. he arrived in the United Kingdom in April 1939 (his parents later left Germany for Portugal; his brother, Ted, to the United States, for whom he fought during the war). He was briefly interned as an " enemy alien", at Peveril Camp, on the Isle of Man, in 1940, following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He then enlisted in the British Army's Pioneer Corps, playing cello in its orchestra, but was transferred to the

Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre The term Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC) was used for facilities in the UK, the continent (Belgium and Germany) between 1942 and 1947, the Middle East, and South Asia. They were run by the British War Office on a joint basis ...

in 1943, where he eavesdropped on captured Axis officers at Latimer House and

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and oversea ...

in Buckinghamshire, known then as "No 1 Distribution Centre" and "No 2 Distribution Centre" respectively. After rising to

Regimental Sergeant Major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australi ...

, he was demobbed in June 1946. He subsequently worked in accountancy and credit control. He obtained British nationality in May 1947. While working for CSDIC he met Susan Cohn, also a refugee from Germany. They were married in 1945. She died in 2013. One of their two sons is the broadcaster

Robin Lustig Robin Francis Lustig (born 30 August 1948, London) is a British journalist and radio broadcaster, who has presented programmes for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4. Family Lustig was born in Stoke Newington, London, to Jewish refugees ...

. The other is Stephen, a music publisher. Lustig died on 18 December 2017. Several obituaries were published, including those in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and one on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme '' Last Word''.

References

External links

Hitler came to power 80 years ago. I remember it like yesterday
- reminiscence by Lustig, in

, 30 January 2013
The M Room
- BBC World Service radio programme featuring Lustig
Secret Listener
- interview transcript, 2012 * 1919 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Berlin Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Royal Pioneer Corps soldiers British Army personnel of World War II People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II German classical cellists British classical cellists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century cellists {{UK-musician-stub