'From the trauma of the Holocaust to safety and joy in Britain': Miliband brothers pay tribute after death of mother aged 91
Marion Miliband, who survived the Holocaust, died earlier this week
Ed and David Miliband have announced the death of their mother, a left-wing campaigner and Polish Holocaust survivor, at the age of 91.
Listen to this article
Marion Kozak Miliband, the mother of the two political brothers and wife to historian Ralph Miliband, died earlier this week in London, the family announced on Saturday.
In an emotional joint statement, the brothers said: “We are very sad to announce that our mother Marion has died aged 91.
"She lived a full and 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."
"Marion was a force field of life and love-a dearly beloved mother, grandmother and sister.
"We will deeply miss her but will carry her spirit and values with us always," they said.
Read more: 'This could be the next PM': Lewis Goodall backs Ed Miliband
Read more: Ed Miliband unveils energy pricing shakeup in bid to slash bills
Born in the Polish town of Czestochowa on December 22 1934, Marion Kozak was the daughter of wealthy Jewish parents Bronislawa and Dawid.
The Kozaks' factory was commandeered and transformed into a munitions plant in 1939.
In the town, an estimated 2,000 Jews were murdered by Germans, and another 40,000 were transported to the gas chambers at the Treblinka extermination camp.
She escaped from the Czestochowa Ghetto in 1942 during the Nazi occupation along with her mother and sister.
Surviving the war thanks to what her son Ed told the 2012 Labour Party conference was “the kindness of strangers”, she was sheltered by nuns and then a neighbour of her aunt in Warsaw.
In 1947, aged 12, Marion arrived in Britain through a Jewish organisation.
She married the left-wing academic Ralph Miliband and became a human rights campaigner and early activist for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) May 30, 2026
In his 2012 conference speech, his third as Labour leader, Ed Miliband said his mother “probably doesn’t agree with me”, but “like most mums is too kind to say so”.
But in the same speech he drew a link from her escape from the Nazis to his own political philosophy.
He said: “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. Nuns in a convent who took her in and sheltered her from the Nazis, took in a Jewish girl at risk to themselves.”