Interview with Lily Schwarzschild

British Jewish civilian relief worker with Committee for Relief Aboard in Kaunitz, Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp and Berlin, Germany, 1946-1948

REEL 1 Background in London, GB, 1920-1945: family; daily life and social circumstances; employment as short-hand typist at Marks & Spencer Plc in Baker Street; description of activities with West Central Jewish Girls Club and opinion of founder Lily Montagu; awareness of anti-Semitism in Europe during 1930s; reason for volunteering to work for Jewish Committee for Relief Aboard in Germany, 1945; story of interview with Sir Simon Marks and being granted six months leave of absence; anti-Semitism in London and effect of British Union of Fascists; Jewish Committee for Relief Aboard uniform; role of Jewish Committee for Relief Aboard within United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA); training prior to departure; journey from GB to Germany, 1946. Aspects of period with Jewish Committee for Relief Aboard in Kaunitz, Germany, 1946-1947: duties helping Displaced Persons from Poland and Hungary; story of Hungarian Holocaust survivors. REEL 2 Continues: daily life in Kaunitz; relations between Jews and Germans; accommodation in farmhouses; further details of duties and responsibilities looking after Displaced Persons; story of young couple and death of babies; case studies of other Displaced Persons; use of bicycle as main transport; relations with local German civilians; barter system; daily life and work. REEL 3 Continues: description of Passover celebrations in Kaunitz; story of obtaining Star of David cloth from Holocaust survivor and subsequent donation to Imperial War Museum; reason for being moved to Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp, 1947. Aspects of period with Jewish Committee for Relief Aboard in Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp, Germany, 1947: description of camp, facilities, accommodation and food; opinion of camp leader Josef Rosensaft; co-operation with camp police force; description of orphanage; story of taking forty children from camp to Basle, Switzerland, for holiday; problem of lack of water; reaction of children to being taken to showers provided by Swiss Red Cross; story of sleepwalking child drowning in swimming pool; question of Displaced Person emigration to Palestine; Kosher and Orthodox customs in camp; ritual baths for women; emotional problems of Displaced Persons; reaction to creation of state of Israel, 1948; opinion of treatment of Displaced Persons; care of children. REEL 4 Continues: reason for move to Berlin, 1948. Aspects of period with Jewish Committee for Relief Aboard in Berlin, Germany, 1948: description of work with Polish and German Jews; attitude to division of Berlin into four occupation zones; problem of lack of rabbis for synagogues; role in setting up Kindergarten; description of Berlin and effects of war; use of cigarettes as currency; attitude to Germans; story of meeting future husband Rabbi Steven Schwartzchild; daily life during Soviet blockade of Berlin; role in cleaning aircraft to take Displaced Persons into American Sector; story of flying out of British Sector and problem of bad weather. REEL 5 Continues: description of husband's work as rabbi in Berlin; problem of correctly feeding Displaced Persons; mortality rate; re-introduction of Kosher laws for Orthodox Jews; story of Holocaust survivors performing plays about their experiences; question of Holocaust not being discussed after Second World War; opinion of film 'Schindler's List' (1993). Aspects of post-war life and employment: description of work with Holocaust museums; attitude to religious intolerance; reflections on work with Holocaust victims.