A fine and amiable character has been extinguished by the death in action of Pte. Albert Prins. Of a refined and sincerely religious nature, he took a keen interest in the welfare of the Dalston Synagogue, with which he had been connected since childhood. The holier the death, the holier the day. It was his fate to die on the Day of Atonement in the fighting on the Somme. Providence was merciful in giving him an instantaneous death, according to the statement of a Jewish chum who was at his side when he fell. Noble as was his sacrifice, still nobler is that of his windowed mother who has sent three of her five sons voluntarily to the fighting forces. May the consciousness that he died a hero’s death in a great cause be her ever sustaining comfort.
The death in action of Yom Kippur of Pte A. Prins, London Regiment, removes from our midst one whose aim in life was to comfort and cheer those whom age or illness cut off from the outer life of the world. A Jew, more observant of his faith than the average young man of today, and essentially a man of peace, he joined the Army with his two brothers to set the example which he felt all Jews of military age should show for the land of their birth or adoption. His cheery presence will be missed at our communal institutions, also the general hospitals, infirmaries and workhouses where first as an ordinary member and later as musical director of the Central Concert Company, he was largely responsible for the entertainment which brought light into the darkness of some of the less fortunate of his fellow creatures.