Soroptimists in Weybridge said a solemn goodbye in tribute to one of their longest standing Honorary Members last Thursday. Ahead of the AGM a candle was lit and members remembered dear Marion Strehlow, who passed on in January this year after a short illness. Marion was well known in region, an avid and intrepid traveller who exhibited all the best qualities of Soroptimism over 50 years with Windsor then Elmbridge (now Weybridge & District) Soroptimist Clubs. A regular at SISE meetings and Friendship weekends she could speak fluent German and so enjoyed meeting up with friends across the region.
An only child of German Jewish parents living in Berlin, Marion and her parents were sent to Auschwitz, but she ended up in the “Childrens” camp at Theresienstadt. There, aged 5 she helped with the babies and toddlers. She endured hunger and was experimented on by exposing them to bitter weather by sleeping outside on balconies etc. This was to see if any of them died from pneumonia and she suffered from a bad chest all her life. She spent five years there. Her mother was killed and her father worked on as a forced labourer.
After the war, she was lucky enough to be sent to England where she had cousins and this was where life really changed for the better. She studied to become a nurse and we understand reached a high standard in her nursing career, marrying and starting a family.
Spoken tributes were paid to Marion by three women who knew her well for many years, we had a chance to read newspaper cutting thanks to Pam a retired member, then we all recalled her wit, her kindness, Marion’s well travelled mind and her enthusiasm for all things good. Mary summarised
“It was a great honour to know Marion Strehlow. NO STRONGER IMPACT WAS EVER MADE ON THE FOOTPRINTS OF TIME”
Marion was acknowledged by SIGBI as one of One of the top One Hundred Soroptimists in our Centenary Year. For our club she was a dedicated friend and great company, someone who could be relied upon and indeed a woman who capably spoke publicly and received acknowledgement for educating young people in schools in her latter years about the horrors of war.
