Kurt Strauss, a senior engineer who dedicated more than two decades to the Electricity Council and survived the Holocaust as a child refugee, has died at the age of 95. His remarkable life spanned engineering achievements, international diplomacy, and quiet humanitarian work.
Early Life and Escape from Nazi Germany
Born in Degerloch, a suburb of Stuttgart, Germany, into a Jewish family, Kurt's early years were marked by escalating terror. In 1937, his parents, Viktor and Marianne Strauss, sent his older brother Helmut to safety in Britain, where he attended Sidcot School in Somerset. Shortly after, Viktor was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp.
The headteacher of Sidcot brought the family's plight to the Quakers' Germany Emergency Committee, which worked to help Jews escape Nazi persecution. This intervention led to Viktor's release from Dachau, and the entire family was evacuated to London in the spring of 1939, narrowly escaping the horrors of the Holocaust.
Education and Meeting His Future Wife
The Quakers secured a place for Kurt at Sidcot School, covering most of his fees. There, as an 11-year-old, he met Ann Clark, who was in the same year and would later become his wife. This chance meeting in a Somerset boarding school laid the foundation for a lifelong partnership.
Engineering Career and International Work
After leaving school at 18, Kurt joined EMI, where he served an engineering apprenticeship while studying part-time for a degree in radio engineering. His studies were interrupted by two years of national service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
In 1961, he moved with Ann—whom he had married in 1956—and their young family to Brussels. There, he worked as a control engineer for Eurovision, the pan-European television network. Early in his tenure, he found himself as engineer-in-charge during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, responsible for sharing dramatic film footage with news channels across Europe.
Decades at the Electricity Council
The family returned to London in 1965, where Kurt began his long tenure at the Electricity Council, the government body that coordinated electricity supply in England and Wales before privatization in 1990. He worked exclusively within the council's overseas relations branch, managing international relationships, technical exchanges, and consultancy services.
Rising steadily through the ranks to become associate director, his fluency in French and German, coupled with his passion for European cooperation, made him exceptionally well-suited for these responsibilities. He retired in 1989 after more than two decades of service.
Personal Life and Humanitarian Contributions
Kurt and Ann joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1961. Over the years, Kurt served with quiet dedication and good humor on various Quaker committees focused on peacebuilding, inter-faith understanding, and international aid.
His personal interests included classical music and travel, which he documented meticulously through his talent as a photographer, creating detailed photo albums of his journeys. A hands-on engineer at home, he designed numerous ingenious devices and was a self-taught early adopter of home computers.
Later Years and Family
In 2006, Kurt and Ann moved to York, where Ann passed away in 2013. He is survived by their three children, Diana, Alison, and his son; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Another child, Jennifer, died at the age of two in 1967.
Kurt Strauss's life was a testament to resilience, professional dedication, and quiet service—from fleeing persecution as a child to shaping international energy relations and contributing to humanitarian causes throughout his long and impactful life.
