Stephen Kapos is a British-Hungarian Holocaust survivor and one of the last remaining members of that generation. Born in Budapest in 1937, his childhood was defined by the profound terror of evading Nazi persecution and surviving the Siege of Budapest. This early trauma did not lead him toward isolation; instead, it forged his deep universalist values.
Professionally, Kapos emigrated to the United Kingdom after the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and established himself as a respected architect. He spent decades in the British architectural field, integrating rigorous design logic with a concern for social space. Though long retired from architecture, he never ceased his intellectual inquiry. He applied an architect’s sensitivity to “structure” to the study of social justice, successfully transitioning from a professional to an influential activist in London by dismantling power structures.
Kapos is renowned for his steadfast presence at pro-Palestinian marches in London; even in his late eighties, he frequently appears at the frontlines, wearing a sign identifying himself as a Holocaust survivor. He is an active member of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL). Through organizing and participating in public forums, he actively opposes the conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. He believes that, as someone who experienced genocide, he has a special responsibility to prevent his history from being used to justify violence against others.
Kapos’s words carry immense weight due to their moral purity. He has stated powerfully: “As a survivor of the Holocaust, I feel I have a special duty to speak out against the oppression of Palestinians… ‘Never Again’ must mean never again for anyone.”
Addressing the political exploitation of Holocaust memory, he incisively remarked: “It is a total insult to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust to use their suffering as a cover for the crimes being committed today.” He maintains that the true Jewish spirit lies in questioning power, not in unconditional obedience to state narratives.