Ed and David Miliband have announced the death of their mother, Marion Kozak, a Holocaust survivor and left-wing campaigner, at the age of 91. The brothers paid tribute to her as “a force field of life and love” and a “dearly beloved mother, grandmother and sister”.
In a joint statement, they said: “She lived an extraordinary life with a spirit of the utmost kindness, warmth and generosity. Her life had a remarkable trajectory, from the childhood trauma of the Holocaust in Poland to safety and joy in Britain. She became a teacher, campaigner and a passionate advocate for justice. We will deeply miss her, but will carry her spirit and values with us always.”
Born Dobra Jenta Kozak in Poland in 1934, she escaped from the Czestochowa Ghetto in 1942 during the Nazi occupation with her mother and sister. She was sheltered by nuns and a neighbour of her aunt in Warsaw, surviving the war thanks to what Ed Miliband described in a 2012 Labour Party conference speech as “the kindness of strangers”.
After the war, she settled in the UK, marrying left-wing academic Ralph Miliband and becoming a human rights campaigner and early activist for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In 2009, while Foreign Secretary, David Miliband paid tribute to those who had protected his mother during an official visit to Poland.
Ed Miliband drew a link between his mother's escape from the Nazis and his own political philosophy, saying: “I believe we cannot shrug our shoulders at injustice, and just say that’s the way the world is. And I believe that we can overcome any odds if we come together as people. That’s how my mum survived the war. The kindness of strangers.”
