On a Saturday evening in May 1946, 2,000 Jewish refugees arrived by train at a border railway station and displaced persons camp between Berlin and Hanover in the British occupied zone of West Germany.

It was reported that the transport leader, a Mr Stern, had bought the train in Poland with money provided by an independent organisation. The train stood in the siding overnight having been denied further progress by the railway authorities as Mr Stern had no valid entry papers.

The camp manager contacted the locally based British Army Intelligence Unit who, in turn, offered Mr Stern the use of their telephone so that he could try and obtain the necessary authority required to take the train and its passengers on to Bremen.

Mr Stern claimed he was a representative of the American Joint Distribution Committee. At Bremen a boat was supposedly waiting for them to take them to the Middle East.

This he successfully managed to obtain and later on the Sunday the train, and its desperate passengers, continued the journey to freedom and a new life.

Nothing was recorded of this incident but now, 60 years after the incident, one of the British officers is trying to find out more about what he was involved with and as to whether these refugees found the new life they desperately sought.

Contact David at Wiener Library, 4 Devonshire Street, London W1W 5BH or email david.allthorpe@btopenworld.com

ROY Rosenthal of Manchester is looking for the family of Simon Jacobson.

Mr Jacobson knew Roy's late uncle, Harold Friedman, who was killed in the First World War at Cambrai, France on August 25, 1918, aged 20. Harold served with the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and prior to going to France, he was stationed at Cavalry Barracks in Newport.

Roy has a letter from his uncle which refers to the death of Alderman Frankenburg and the strike of munition workers in Lancashire. It also mentions a Mrs Miller.

Roy's grandparents lived at 51 Brunswick Street, Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

Write to 19 Fairhaven Avenue, Whitefield, Manchester M45 7QG or telephone 0161 959 0053.

HANNAH Freeman of Somerset is looking for information about the Goldstern family.

Abraham and Marie Goldstern had 13 children. Abraham was the youngest son of Rabbi Mendel Goldstern in Odessa.

From information Hannah has gathered, she believes the family name of Goldstern is coming to an end. Hannah is also looking for information about the family Umansky, specifically Kotja Constantine Aleksandrovich Umansky.

Write to Foxowls, Holcombe Rogus, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 0NE or email hannah_freeman@hotmail.com

BARBARA Brody is trying to trace relatives of her great grandparents.

They were Rabbi Samuel Menachem Brod(y), 1856-1938, son of Nachum Dov, and Sarah,(1857-1925), daughter of Mordechai.

They arrived in Hull in approximately 1898 and remained there all their lives. They had at least four children, Louis/Lewis, Betsy( Barbara's grandmother) Rachel and Dora (Dolly).

Write to 41 Forest Drive, Lytham FY8 4QF or email barbarabrody@supanet.com

THE Brookvale Home has sent an appeal to the family of a former resident who died last week.

The home wants to contact the sister of Jeffrey Myers, as they need his Hebrew name.

Finance director Maurice Walters said: "Jeffrey moved to Brookvale more than 20 years ago from Leeds. We believe his sister is still in Leeds and is called Estelle Amos."

Jeffrey's parents - Sadie and Harry Myerson - have also passed away.

Contact Maurice on 0161-653 1767.