Description
Object description
German Jewish schoolchild in Munich, Germany, 1933-1939; emigrated from Germany to GB on Kindertransport, 27/6/1939-29/6/1939; refugee schoolchild and student in GB, 6/1939-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of period as schoolchild in Munich, Germany, 1933-1939: experiencing anti-Semitism from teacher; beating and humiliation of father by Nazis; how father Dr Michael Siegel was photographed in street after attack at police station, 10/3/1933; impact of attack on father; move to Jewish school; family background; education; integrated nature of family into Munich society.
REEL 2 Continues: question of degree of anti-Semitism in Munich; memories of Kristallnacht, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938; attitude of father Dr Michael Siegel towards Adolf Hitler and Nazis; escape of father from Munich during Kristallnacht, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938; father's subsequent escape from Germany; confiscation of family home; sight of Adolf Hitler in car; arrest of rabbi; Nazis attitude towards beards; clandestine education.
REEL 3 Continues: attending cookery school; demeanour of cookery school supervisor recently released from Dachau Concentration Camp; witnessing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's visit to Munich, 9/1938; decision of family to leave Germany; how family were forced to sell summer house on Lake Walchensee; attitude of villagers of Walchensee towards Nazis. Recollections of emigration from Germany to GB with Kindertransport, 27/6/1939-29/6/1939: background to Kindertransport scheme; sponsorship by Williams family.
REEL 4 Continues: exceeding luggage limit imposed by Nazis; looking after young Jewish orphan; leaving Munich Central Railway Station at midnight, 27/6/1939; hiding ten mark note in sandwich whilst crossing border; reception in Netherlands; comforting a crying child; arrival at Liverpool Street Station, London and being met by hostess's daughter. Aspects of period as refugee schoolchild in GB, 1939-1942: description of host family's house at Brasted Hall, Brasted; education at Nayland House School, Sevenoaks; kindness of Ronald Williams's family; incident of bomb that fell on school; memories of declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939.
REEL 5 Continues: initial impressions of GB; opinion of British people; difficulty of adapting to British lifestyle; evacuation of school to Wales, 1939; attitude towards Wales and the Welsh; education in Wales; registration as 'enemy alien' at age of sixteen, 1941; communications with parents; sense of homesickness; meeting with brother Hans; escape of parents to Peru, 1939.
REEL 6 Continues: parents experiences aboard ship and in Peru; degree of contact with British Jewish community; attitude towards friend who converted to Christianity; nature of own Jewish faith. Aspects of period as refugee student at University College London in GB, 1942-1945: familiarisation with British culture; kindness of host family's son Ainslie Williams; obtaining place at University College London at Aberystwyth, 10/1942.
REEL 7 Continues: anti-Semitism encountered at university; return with college to London, 1944; celebrating VE Day, 8/5/1945. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 1945-1952: reaction to reunion with mother, Mathilde Siegel, 1947; reunion with father, Michael Siegel, 1951; father's work in securing compensation for Jewish community in Germany. Reflections of Holocaust experience: reaction to hearing about fate of grandmother; reaction to post-war return to Munich; comparison between her situation and concentration camp survivor Leopold Szneer.
REEL 8 Continues: attending 1989 Kindertransport Reunion; importance of reunions and discussion of shared experience; importance of establishing new life; attending 1994 Kindertransport reunion; importance of discussing experience with younger generation; attitude towards Imperial War Museum's plan for Holocaust gallery; reads poem 'The Song of Buchenwald' in German; reads her English prize winning translation of 'The Song of Buchenwald'; decision to donate prize money to Imperial War Museum Holocaust Exhibition.