Kindertransport refugees Bob & Ann Kirk #362

Bob and Ann were brought to the UK on the Kindertransport during Nazi Germany. They met later in life at a club for Jewish refugees in London and married soon after. Bob and Ann recall how they had to say goodbye to their parents and how they eventually found happiness in England.

This film is part of our Goodbye Europe season

1000 LONDONERS

This film is part of 1000 Londoners, a ten-year digital project which aims to create a digital portrait of a city through 1000 of the people who identify themselves with it. The profile contains a 3 minute film that gives an insight into the life of the Londoner, as well as their personal photos of London and some answers to crucial questions about their views on London life. Over the course of the project we aim to reveal as many facets of the capital as possible, seeing city life from 1000 points of view.

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1000 Londoners is produced by South London based film production company and social enterprise, Chocolate Films. The filmmakers from Chocolate Films will be both producing the films and providing opportunities to young people and community groups to make their own short documentaries, which will contribute to the 1000 films. Visit www.chocolatefilms.com

TRANSCRIPT

[Bob] My father was a business man. Mum ran the home, did a lot of charity work You could say an ordinary child's existence.
[Ann] My relationship with my parents was very very good and I heard their conversations of course. And they would be talking about Hitler's new anti-semitic laws. I didn't entirely realise of course what that all meant.
[Bob] School was marvellous for the first three years between 1930 and 33. After which it started changing dramatically, quite rapidly. A number of my friends started turning up in Hitler Youth uniform. So at that point, the playground got rather more lonely. After Kristallnacht it was quite clear that Germany was not a place for Jews.
[Ann] And so that's why my parents then registered me onto the Kindertransport lists.
[Bob] My parents enrolled me they made an application for me to go on the Kindertransport.
[Ann] When we got to the station, there were hoards of crying parents and children.
[Bob] We could only take a small suitcase. There was nothing in the case to indicate that this might be a long separation.
[Ann] And as my parents hugged and kissed me, they whispered that I should look out of the train window at the next station but one. Well I did this, and there were my parents on the platform waving to me as if their hands would drop off. But you know that's the very last time I actually ever saw my parents.
[Bob] When I arrived in London, I was scared, excited, nervous.
[Ann] When we got to Waterloo, we were taken into a very large hall, and it was immediately obvious to me how different life was.
[Bob] I was naturalised while was in the army.
[Ann] I think the longer I lived in Britain, the more British I felt, and the more remote I felt from my German past.
[Bob] When I was demobbed in early 1948 I came back to London and joined a club for young refugees. The chairman was a friend of mine. And one day he brought along a new member and in came Ann. It took me three weeks to pluck up enough courage to ask her out but I knew this was something special.
[Ann] I was very attracted to him, but I also wondered about, I mean, well you used to wear a sweater with a hole in it, and I thought 'how could I possibly marry somebody who was wearing a sweater with a hole in!'
[Bob] And our first date was in... mid March and by 5th June I remember the date very well, I knew I was going to propose to marry Ann.
[Ann] But we had a very small wedding, so I almost promised myself, because Bob and I loved dancing, and I always promised myself for our golden wedding, we would have a big party and we would dance. And we did.

Видео Kindertransport refugees Bob & Ann Kirk #362 канала 1000 Londoners