Description
Object description
German Jewish schoolchild in Berlin, Germany, 1933-1939; emigrated from Germany to GB on Kindertransport, 7/1939; evacuee in Bedford, GB, 1939-1941; civilian in Bedford, GB, 1941-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Berlin, Germany, 1926-1933: early childhood; family; degree of religious practise in family. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Berlin, Germany, 1933-1939: education; memories of political disturbances prior to 1933; family history and origins; increase in anti-Semitism after rise of Nazis to power; impact of anti Jewish legislation; impact of anti-Jewish policies on father Willy Silbermann's business; atmosphere in public spaces towards Jewish presence; change in attitude of parents non-Jewish friends.
REEL 2 Continues: degree of German support for Nazis; attitude of family towards emigration; difficulty of obtaining visa for America; memories of Kristallnacht, 11/1938. Recollections of emigration from Germany to GB on Kindertransport, 7/1939: description of Kindertransport scheme; attitude towards possibility of emigration from Germany to GB; impact of leaving parents Willy and Ella Silbermann and brother; impressions of leaving Germany at border with Netherlands; kindness of Dutch women at border; journey from Netherlands to GB; train journey on arrival in GB; reception by Mrs Harris. Aspects of period as refugee schoolchild in GB, 7/1939-9/1939: initial impressions of GB.
REEL 3 Continues: coping with orthodox Jewish character of hostel; relations with elder brother Heinz Silbermann; attending a Zionist summer camp, 8/1939; relations with British Jewish children; attitude towards impending war; brief education in Kilburn; opinion of fairness and inbuilt sense of rights of British children. Aspects of period as evacuee in Bedford, GB, 1939-1941: attitude towards first billet with Mr and Mrs Ball; education at local school; kindness of local people; adapting to British life; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; aid for refugees from Mr and Mrs Harris; various billets; leaving school at fourteen. Aspects of period working with transport company in Bedford in GB, 1941-1945: employment; management of transport department by 1943-1944; working with former member of British Union of Fascists.
REEL 4 Continues: memories of German bombs dropped in Bedford area, 1940-1941; attitude of British populace towards Second World War; contact with parents; work and voluntary service; reasons for removal from Army Cadet Corps due to German nationality; reaction to viewing newsreel of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 1945; learning of parents Willy and Ella Silbermann's fate in Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Poland. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 1945-1998: career in road haulage business; establishment of own road haulage firm; helping end road haulage strike, 1979; award of Order of British Empire.
REEL 5 Continues: further details of road haulage career. Aspects of involvement in Kindertransport reunions: helping to organise 'Reunion of Kindertransport'. Reflections on Holocaust experience: question of compensation; importance of recording experiences; attitude towards Jewish identity; lack of anti-Semitism in GB; discussion with family about experience; attitude towards victims of persecution, 1998.