IT IS many years since Emma Vogel fled Nazi Germany - but she still received a message from the president of her home nation as well as the Queen on her 100th birthday.
Mrs Vogel, of Esh Winning, fled to France in the 1930s but was forced back to Dusseldorf. She came to England to stay with Jewish doctor friends in 1948.
She settled down as a medical receptionist for her friends, Drs Hertz and Cohen in Roker Avenue, Sunderland, eventually moving to Malvern Gardens in Roker to keep house for Dr Hertz.
Then on Christmas Day 1999, old friend Christine Wolstenholme took her to Newhouse Road in Esh Winning.
Mrs Wolstenholme said Mrs Vogel had confided the secret of a long life to her: "She said don't drink, don't smoke and don't get married."
On Sunday the mayor of Sunderland Brian Dodds and his wife Sylvia, old friends of Mrs Vogel, paid a visit and on Monday Derwentside district councillor Les Clayton congratulated her on behalf of her new community.
As well as certificates from the Queen and the president of Germany, Mrs Vogel also received congratulations from the German Embassy.
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