Robert Behar was the first-born child of Samuel Behar (1920-2010) and Eva (née Herskovits, born 1925), a Romanian Holocaust survivor who had survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Robert’s paternal grandparents were Jacob Behar and Allegra, née Benardout, a couple associated with the Anglo-Persian Carpet Company.[1]
After his marriage to Eva in 1946, Robert’s father Samuel secured employment at the Perez Ltd. carpet shop at 199 Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, opposite Harrod’s. The couple prospered, although Eva suffered from the physical and mental repercussions of her experiences, including a nervous breakdown in 1949.
In 1952, Samuel became the manager of a tapestry shop a few doors down on Brompton Road. The following year, as he felt he was losing his hearing, Samuel launched his own company, S. Behar Carpet Cleaners, which specialized in cleaning and restoration and was located in a basement in the Shepherd Bush neighborhood. When their children, born in 1949 and 1952, had both reached school age, Eva joined Samuel in the shop seven days a week. Eventually, the couple saved £1,200 for a deposit on a “lovely mock Tudor house in a cul-de-sac in Ealing.” They moved there in July 1960.
As the business continued to grow, Samuel and Eva relocated it to Kensal Road (then Brewery Road) and “finally to a beautiful factory in Islington, which we were able to rent in 1972.” They received work “from all over the West End” and the number of employees grew to seven or eight. Eventually, they received the Queen Mother’s Royal Warrant. Their work involved cleaning and repairing the rugs and tapestries in the throne room of St. James’s Palace.
When Samuel became ill in 1976 and had an open-heart bypass surgery, their son Robert helped in the factory to keep the business running. Robert later launched his own company, BeharProfex, which specializes in rug care and, secondarily, the sale of Oriental rugs and carpets.[2] Robert Behar’s life story demonstrates how the Oriental carpet trade was passed down to the next generation of Sephardi Jews, as well as to Ashkenazi Jews who married into the family.
[1] Samuel Behar was also known as Sammy Behar. His father Jacob was also known as Jack Behar and Jaques Behar.
[2] https://www.beharprofex.com/ (accessed January 12, 2026).