HENRY (HEINZ ROBERT SONTHEIMER) WAS BORN ON THE 25TH SEPTEMBER 1924 IN STUTTGART ALONG WITH HIS TWIN BROTHER PAUL FELIX TO THEIR FATHER FELIX, A FIRST DIRECTOR OF DEUTSCHE BANK AND HIS MOTHER, ROOSJIE,  A WELL KNOWN AND RENOWNED OPERA SINGER . THE TWINS HAD AN ELDER BROTHER FREDDIE. AT THE AGE OF 11 THE BOYS LOST THEIR BELOVED MOTHER TO ILL HEALTH . IN 1938 HIS FATHER , MY OPA, BROUGHT THE 3 BOYS INTO THE PIANO ROOM, GIVE THEM SOME CLOTHES,MONEY, PAPERS AND A BAG AND SAID GOODBYE .MY FATHER AND HIS TWIN LEFT FOR FAMILY IN HOLLAND AND THEN AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME HEADED TO ENGLAND AND ULTIMATELY THEY ENDED UP IN LEICESTER . AT THE AGE OF 15 THEY WERE SET TO WORK IN A SHOE FACTORY, CAN YOU IMAGINE , ONE MINUTE SETTLED AS SCHOOL BOYS IN STUTTGART…… IN 1942 THE BOYS APPLIED TO BECOME NATURALISED BRITISH CITIZENS AND IN 1943 MY FATHER HENRY , HAVING OF COURSE CHANGED HIS NAME, JOINED THE BRITISH ARMY AND SERVED IN BURMA AND INDIA . ON LEAVING THE ARMED FORCES IN 1947 HE RETURNED TO LEICESTER WHERE THERE WAS A LARGE JEWISH COMMUNITY . IN 1949 HE MET MY MOTHER , ELIZABETH GLADYS CLARKE, A BEAUTIFUL LADY WITH A C OF E RELIGION . IN 1952 THEY MARRIED AND IN 1955 MY BROTHER MICHAEL ROBERT WAS BORN AND I FOLLOWED IN 1958. MY FATHER CONTINUED TO ATTEND SERVICES AT THE SYNAGOGUE IN LEICESTER AND CONTINUED HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY BUT DEVELOPED NEW FRIENDS FROM DIFFERENT FAITHS IN LEICESTER . MY FATHER WORKED LONG AND HARD FOR HIS FAMILY , ALWAYS PUTTING HIS WIFE, CHILDREN AND FAMILY .HE TAUGHT ME RIGHT FROM WRONG, HE TAUGHT ME TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH RESPECT TO EARN IT . HE TAUGHT ME TO BE POLITE AND HUMBLE . MY FATHER WAS A TRUE GENTLEMEN WHO NEVER COMPLAINED . HE HELPED ANYBODY AND EVERYONE , HE MADE ME PROUD. AS AN OPA MY CHILDREN HAD HUGE RESPECT FOR HIM. IN OCTOBER 1998 HE DID A RECORDING FOR THE SHOAH FOUNDATION , HIS STORY IS WORTH HEARING !  HENRY SADLY PASSED IN JUNE 2006 , HE IS STILL GREATLY MISSED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS. HIS LEGACY LIVES ON. TO CELEBRATE WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY IN SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR OUR FAMILY WENT TO STUTTGART TO COMMEMORATE HIS LIFE AND THAT OF HIS FAMILY BUT ALSO TO PIECE TOGETHER HIS LIFE IN STUTTGART FROM 1924-1938. PROUD DOES NOT DO JUSTICE AS TO HOW I FEEL ABOUT MY FATHER . GREAT IS OFTEN A WORD THAT IS MISUSED BUT NOT IN THE CASE OF MY FATHER. I GET INSPIRATION FROM THE WAY HE LIVED HIS LIFE EVERY DAY . I HOPE THAT HE WAS PROUD OF ME. HENRY ROBERT SUTTON, A GENTLEMAN OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.