Leeds United welcomed a very special guest to Elland Road on Saturday afternoon, a Holocaust survivor and lifelong supporter of the club, Heinz Skyte.

Heinz was invited to attend the match to help celebrate his upcoming 100th birthday which coincides with the Leeds United centenary season.

Chairman Andrea Radrizanni was on hand with his wife Nedine to meet with Mr Skyte and his son Peter ahead of kick-off, presenting them with a 2019/20 home shirt with 'SKYTE 100' printed on the back along with two scarves, which according to Heinz is the true way to spot a real football fan.

At just 19-years-old Heinz Skyte stepped off the train that brought him to safety from Nazi Germany and the first thing he did was take a tram to Elland Road - 80 years ago. Along with his brother, Frank, Heinz watched Leeds United play out a 1-1 draw with Everton – and from that moment he has followed the club, through all of the ups and downs and now he hopes to see them back where they belong.

Heinz was forced to leave his home in a small town called Fuerth, near Nuremberg, after the events of Kristallnacht. At the time, Heinz was a student in digs near Hamburg, where he witnessed synagogues being set alight and the SS rounding up and taking away Jewish men.

He later discovered that his father had been arrested and taken to Dachau concentration camp, where he was incarcerated for six weeks – an experience that never left him.

Heinz was able to escape Germany and join his brother in Leeds, who managed to find a job for him as a trainee presser in the clothing factory where he worked. Their parents eventually managed to secure visas to travel to England in the August of 1939, just days before the outbreak of World War II.

“Sadly, there was a great deal of antisemitism at the time and that still exists today,” said Heinz. “After war broke out, Germans living in England were all regarded with suspicion and my family was arrested and interned, despite the fact we were more anti-Nazi than most people, having already been expelled from Germany.”

Heinz and Frank were sent to an internment camp on the Isle of Man before being moved on to Canada, where they stayed until 1942. On his return, he volunteered for war work and worked in engineering.

Heinz met and married a fellow Jewish refugee, Thea, who fled to England aboard the Kindertransport, and they had two sons, one who lives in London and the other in Israel. The couple were granted British citizenship in 1947.

He began work for the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board in 1951, eventually becoming chief executive, and remained with the board until 1985. He was awarded the MBE for his dedication to community work in 1976.

Heinz is one of 16 Holocaust survivors and refugees whose stories feature in an interactive exhibition at the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre – the only facility of its kind in the north of England, based at Huddersfield University

Many thanks to Jerry Holmes at Richardsons Office Furniture who helped to organise the special day for Heinz and Peter, including hospitality at the game along with the support of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association.