Barney Hurwitz was a member of the Belfast Jewish Community and part of the Refugee Aid Committee. He was also President of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation.
In May 1939, he, along with Leo Scop and Maurice Solomon leased a 70-acre derelict farm in Millisle, Co. Down. Along with Lawrence Gorman, owner of the farmland, he signed the lease over a drink in Mooney’s Bar, Cornmarket, Belfast, Co. Antrim.
The farm at Ballyrolly House, Millisle, Co. Down would become a safe haven for many Jewish Kindertransport Children in the 1940s.