Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

FACT: Schoolkids, like squaddies, are almost unstoppably politically incorrect - and they'll go on being racist, sexist etc. forever, most likely, regardless of how vigorously they're lectured on the evils of non-PCness.

But lookie here: do kids at CH still call their tight-fisted fellow-pupils 'Jews'? With hindsight, it was a truly appalling habit (accompanied as it was by ridiculously nasal-sounding voices + hand-gestures intended to convey large-nosedness). Yet it was a practice engaged in by everyone (except presumably kids of Jewish extraction, who kept their heads very low for reasons of self-preservation).

What's the picture, shipmates? Is this kind of terminology still in use? If not, how was it stopped?

This still went on when I was there...

and calling everybody 'gay' if they did something strange.

Great Plum wrote:and calling everybody 'gay' if they did something strange.

I think the very non-PC "bender" was a term in earlier days.....

The hand signal was the same in th 60's, but the term used was often worse than 'jew'. Same number of letters, but starting with a 'Y' !

Spoonbill wrote:...(except presumably kids of Jewish extraction, who kept their heads very low for reasons of self-preservation).

Nothing to do with the thread, but, there was a chap on Radio 4 this week (Monday morning, I think) who was talking about his father who went to CH and was, at the time, the only Jewish student. I think he said he was there in the 50s, but will have a rummage around the R4 website to come up with some details.

I can't honestly recall any pupils of the Jewish faith in my time.

Bernard Levin, the critic and broadcaster was prior to my time. Wasn't he of the Jewish Faith ?

Mind you - He denounced CH at nearly every opportunity !

Yes, BL is the most famous Jew to grace the hallowed portals of CH (apart from Jude, that is!). This chap was the father of someone, not well known, but I can't remember the name, date and now the programme he was on. It wasn't 'Start the Week' at all, Mark Thomas was on that, which is probably what confused me. Doesn't take much!

cj wrote:Yes, BL is the most famous Jew to grace the hallowed portals of CH (apart from Jude, that is!). This chap was the father of someone, not well known, but I can't remember the name, date and now the programme he was on. It wasn't 'Start the Week' at all, Mark Thomas was on that, which is probably what confused me. Doesn't take much!

Gillian Miles (3's in the 1950's) niece of Bernard Miles. Her mother told her it would be OK to eat bacon during the war as no alternative was provided.

cj wrote:

Spoonbill wrote:...(except presumably kids of Jewish extraction, who kept their heads very low for reasons of self-preservation).

Nothing to do with the thread, but, there was a chap on Radio 4 this week (Monday morning, I think) who was talking about his father who went to CH and was, at the time, the only Jewish student. I think he said he was there in the 50s, but will have a rummage around the R4 website to come up with some details.

(Keith?) Ashton Col A until 1961 was Jewish. Far from stupid, his chosen universities refused to even consider his 3 S level passes so he went on to get a further 3. (In those days S level was far beyond A level).

Whether he was the sole Jew I don't know - his religion was never mentioned whether in or outside his presence.

I heard the programme too, but can't remember which it was! I know he said he thought his 'Dad was probably the only person ever to be Bar-mitzvahed (?Spelling) in the Tudor uniform'.

Ruth Deech was the most prominent Jew in my time at Hertford, and I only just overlapped with her. I seem to remember reading that she did not get a leaver's Bible and was given one years later when she rose to prominence. Are they given to Moslems and other non-Christians? I believe we had the first Moslem at Hertford in 6s, Jasmin (?), when I was a senior.

I think the bibles are given to everyone - even those of no faith

Katharine wrote:I heard the programme too, but can't remember which it was! I know he said he thought his 'Dad was probably the only person ever to be Bar-mitzvahed (?Spelling) in the Tudor uniform'.

Ruth Deech was the most prominent Jew in my time at Hertford, and I only just overlapped with her. I seem to remember reading that she did not get a leaver's Bible and was given one years later when she rose to prominence. Are they given to Moslems and other non-Christians? I believe we had the first Moslem at Hertford in 6s, Jasmin (?), when I was a senior.

I heard the programme too, I thought it was start the week as I seem to remember Andrew Marr asking the questions.

AKAP wrote:

Katharine wrote:I heard the programme too, but can't remember which it was! I know he said he thought his 'Dad was probably the only person ever to be Bar-mitzvahed (?Spelling) in the Tudor uniform'.

I heard the programme too, I thought it was start the week as I seem to remember Andrew Marr asking the questions.

Hooray!

Yes - Jew, Jewbags, Jowseph, Zowseph.....I squirm at the recollection. Even something small (like a tiny portion of food) was referred to as 'Jewish'. Quite disgraceful.

As someone who (since leaving school) has long since figured out the whole disguised-Jewish-roots phenomenon, I'm very aware indeed of who the jewish kids/kids of Jewish extraction were at CH in my day. There was no small number of them (unsurprising when so many pupils were from less-well-off London families) - and how they put up with all the 'Jew' parlance doesn't bear thinking about.

Obviously their wise parents warned them never to go public about their racial/cultural origins, so they kept their heads well and truly low throughout their educations. But there must have been plenty of painful moments.

(In case you were wondering, I'm NOT about to start naming names. If folks choose to be discreet about their backgrounds, that's their prerogative. But I remain staggered by British gentiles' complete inability to allow for the fact that there may well be Jews present at any given time. In the US where people feel free to wear their cultural identities on their sleeves, everyone simply knows when they're encountering a Jewish person - but here in the UK we're still living in the Dark Ages.)

I dont recall ever hearing the word Jew used as an insult when I was there.
I know there was a jewish kid there when i was, and a hindu student too. They seem to give bibles to everyone, didnt ask us if we were of no faith or whatever.