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Ipswich memorial to WW2 Jewish refugee who spied for UK

Ipswich War Memorial Kurt Erich GlauberIpswich War Memorial
Kurt Erich Glauber fled to the UK from Austria and later became a spy for MI6

A Jewish refugee who spied for the UK during World War Two is to be given a memorial to commemorate his role.

Dr Kurt Erich Glauber, a lawyer in Vienna, fled to England when German troops invaded Austria in 1938 and Jews were banned from practicing.

He moved to Ipswich, was recruited by MI6 and returned to Austria as a spy for the UK, but was captured and died in Mauthausen concentration camp.

His memorial, unveiled later by his nephew, is in Ipswich Old cemetery.

Members of the Ipswich War Memorial group, who have been researching Mr Glauber's role in the war, said he was among about 20 Jewish refugees who ended up in the Suffolk town.

Mr Glauber was born in 1902 and at the age of 37, banned from working by the Nazis, he escaped his homeland and ended up in Ipswich.

He lived in Norwich Road, in a house that is now a vaping shop called What's Ya Flava.

Ipswich War Memorial Kurt Glauber in 1941 with his mother, sister and his nephewIpswich War Memorial
Kurt Glauber (centre), pictured in 1941 with his mother Ernestine, sister Lucile, and his nephew - who will unveil the memorial

He worked in a laundry and in 1941 joined the non-fighting Pioneer Corps.

He later joined the Royal Artillery, but researchers said that was a "cover story" as Mr Glauber had been recruited by MI6.

Ipswich War Memorial Kurt Glauber at the age of six, with his younger brother GerhardIpswich War Memorial
This photo was taken in 1909 and shows Kurt Glauber at the age of six, with his younger brother Gerhard

Andrew Beal, who looked into Mr Glauber's background, said it was believed he had been returned to Austria, reporting back on factories where the Germans were developing weapons.

In 1945 he was picked up by the Gestapo, interrogated and imprisoned in Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.

He died in April that year.

After the war, Mr Glauber was posthumously awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct.

Google Shop in IpswichGoogle
The house Where Mr Glauber lived is now a vape shop

The new memorial in Ipswich - a black marble monument - includes the Star of David and the fact that he worked as a secret agent for MI6.

Its creation marked a "historic partnership between the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation UK (JASHP), the Association of Jewish Ex-servicemen and Women, and the Ipswich War Memorial Project", researchers said.

The memorial is expected to be unveiled by Mr Glauber's nephew, Tony Japhet.

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