Bloomsbury in Camden in Greater London, England, United Kingdom — Northwestern Europe (the British Isles)
Otto Schiff
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, February 28, 2026
1. Otto Schiff Marker
Otto Schiff
CBE
1875-1952
Founder and Director of the Jewish Refugees Committee, which was based here 1933-1939
Erected 2019 by The Association of Jewish Refugees.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Charity & Public Work. In addition, it is included in the The Holocaust series list.
Location. 51° 31.549′ N, 0° 7.763′ W. Marker is in Camden, England, in Greater London. It is in Bloomsbury. It is at the intersection of Tavistock Square and Upper Woburn Place, on the left when traveling east on Tavistock Square. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 20 Tavistock Square, Camden, England WC1H 0HW, United Kingdom. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Greater South East. Globally, it is on the Atlantic Ocean, in the North Atlantic Region, in Europe, in Atlantic Europe, on one of the British Isles, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Roman Empire.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: In Memory of Auxiliary Firemen (here, next to this marker); Charles Dickens (within shouting distance of this marker); Tavistock Square Bus Bombing Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); George Jacob Holyoake (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Dorothy Richardson (about 90 meters away); Ali Mohammed Abbas (about 90 meters away); William Butler Yeats (about 90 meters away); Robert Owen (about 120 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Camden.
Also see . . .
this page online
On Wednesday 18 December 2019 the AJR unveiled a commemorative plaque in honour of the founder, chair and director of the Jewish Refugees Committee (JRC), Otto M. Schiff C.B.E. at Woburn House, Tavistock Square in London which served as the Committees centre from 1933 to 1939. Many of the estimated 60,000 Jews from Germany and Austria who fled to Britain after 1933 when Hitler acceded to power received some form of assistance from the JRC, if only by registering with it at its seat in Woburn House.(Submitted on February 28, 2026.)
Otto Schiff was born in 1875 in Frankfurt and was the nephew of banker Jacob Schiff. In 1896, at the age of twenty-one, he immigrated to London, where he became a partner in the merchant banking firm Bourke, Schiff and Co. His brother Ernst followed some time later. Together, in the First World War, the brothers ran shelters for Belgian refugees. For this work, Otto was awarded a n OBE while his brother received an MBE.
He was appointed head of the Jewish Refugees Committee (JRC), which later became the German Jewish Aid Committee and today is known as World Jewish Relief, the UK Jewish communitys international humanitarian agency. From 1933, the Committee was responsible for making the organisational arrangements to bring Jews out of Germany and Austria to Britain, for supporting themfinancially once here, and for helping them to find accommodation and employment. Otto Schiff was instrumental in setting up the necessary support infrastructure to maintain the Jewish refugees from Nazism in Britain and received the CBE in recognition of his role at the JRC, which included supporting the child refugees who came on the Kindertransport. Schiff had also been President of the Jews Temporary Shelter, which also assisted the Jewish refugees from Nazism. Following his death in 1952, Otto Schiff bequeathed his locally listed mansion, 14 Netherhall Gardens, as a Trust and care home for the benefit of the refugees of Nazi oppression.Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, February 28, 20262. Otto Schiff Marker - wide viewVisible here on the corner of the building
Credits. This page was last revised on February 28, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 28, 2026, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 42 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 28, 2026, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
