Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Page #6

They chose me as a maid, but I didn't know

I was supposed to be a maid.

I hadn't ever thought

of becoming a servant.

But I drew the line.

I point blank refused to wear a uniform.

I think they took me

to show off in front of the neighbors...

...because they were working-class people.

The culture shock was very great...

... and also the fact that my clothes

were better than hers.

She took great exception to that

and she took the clothes and all.

The children whom we brought over

and placed...

...I think, in the main, were satisfactory.

One can never claim 100 percent.

There were certainly some who weren't.

There were certainly some

who were misused...

...and used as servants

if they were of the right age.

I wouldn't claim that it was

a 100-percent success, but...

...I would claim that everybody

who came was alive at the end of the war.

You felt you wanted to do something.

There was a meeting in Norwich...

... of a few Jewish congregates,

and non-Jewish.

They said, "Any offers to take children?"

My husband and I said yes.

Then some photographs

were handed around.

I remember there were some boy twins.

My heart ached,

but we couldn't afford it in those days.

We didn't know what was going to happen.

So that's when we took Kurt.

Percy and Mariam...

... picked me up at the boat...

... and took me back home.

At the entrance stood...

...the maid who, I would learn later,

actually ran the household...

...and halfway up the stairs

sat a little boy of five...

...looking at his "new" brother.

When we got home,

my maid, Selena, was there...

...and she said to me,

"Can't we change it?"

He was filthy, you know,

and smelt of sick and everything.

Anyhow, we gave him a bath.

My grubby clothes,

after three days of travel, were torn off me.

Burned, I learnt later.

I was scrubbed from head to toe...

... and then dressed in English clothes.

Then the family got together

for a chicken dinner.

That I remember.

That's a language I could understand.

And I started to feel more at ease.

I learned English...

... by being sent to a German man,

rather old...

... who lived a few houses down

the same street.

Maybe I thought he was a Nazi,

but I was terrified of him.

In fact, I was so terrified

that I learned English so quick...

...so I wouldn't have to see him again.

Then six weeks later,

I wrote to my parents in English:

"I no longer speak German."

I never have,

and I've never been able to re-learn it.

He was very, very good.

He liked the sweet things

and John liked the savory...

... but they got on very well together.

But I noticed, well, we knew every night...

when it was dark...

...he'd come down the stairs

and he'd see that the door was locked.

That was one thing I remember.

My mother was in London...

... so for me the separation

was not as traumatic...

... because I was going to something.

I came to the London station...

... and she picked me up

and took me where she was working.

Then I stayed in this very cold...

...fancy house in England...

...where they were exploiting

the European maids.

And, of course,

if you've ever been the child of a maid...

...you know maids

aren't supposed to have children.

They're not welcome. You can't stay there.

I don't know how the decision was made,

but I was to be sent to Belfast...

... to the Jewish refugee hostel in Belfast.

When you see your life has been saved

and you're brought into a hostel...

... and there is food there...

... and other children...

...how could you not be happy there?

But, to me, it smelled of orphanage,

...which, in due course, it became.

And orphanages, those things

frighten every child out of its wits.

I mean, Charles Dickens,

to be in a workhouse, to be an orphan.

My first impression of Waddesdon Manor

was like a dream...

... like a castle I've seen in pictures...

... but never in person.

The Cedars was a servants house.

Twenty-six of us lived in The Cedars.

The first thing we did

was throw a soccer ball on the lawn...

... and kicked it around.

The local boys wanted to see what was,

all of a sudden...

... being brought into their little village.

When it was time for dinner...

...they said:

"We'll see you tomorrow."

I was so excited.

I was absolutely so exuberant.

I ran to my housemother...

...and told her:

"Somebody who's not Jewish

wants to see me tomorrow."

We did start going to school there.

It was marvelous.

That you could participate.

And I did enjoy going to school.

And the wonderful part about it

was that it had a library.

I waded through that library...

... and that's how I learned

to speak English.

Through that

I got a love of English literature.

But altogether...

...it was a wonderful experience,

and the children were so friendly to us.

I knew that I was going

to a school near Bournemouth in Dorset.

It was the headmistress of the school

who guaranteed...

... to look after me.

When I arrived at the school,

it was all these girls...

... who were very polite...

... and very nice, very kind.

I couldn't understand a word they said.

I was given my bed.

The curtains could be drawn,

to give me some privacy.

The first thing I did was...

... put a picture of my parents

on the bedside table...

... so I could say goodnight to them.

The first three months

before war broke out...

...we could still write home.

So I could share my experiences

with my parents...

...and I had letters very frequently.

So I didn't feel quite so isolated.

"As you can well imagine...

"...you have been constantly

in our thoughts.

"We still see your face before us

in that window...

"...of the railway carriage."

"My dearest little mouse:

"Hopefully this letter will reach you

already in your new home...

"...where you surely will enjoy your stay.

"Be a very good little girl.

"Be obedient."

"Dear Parents:

"How are you both?

"Today I had my first English lesson.

"Greetings and kisses."

"I was very happy

with your dear little letter...

"...only there shouldn't be

so many spelling errors!"

"If only I could see you

just for a tiny moment...

"...but, as it is,

I can only write letters full of longing. "

"Dear Daddy:
Thank you very much...

"...for the game of cards...

"...and the brooches...

"...and the bracelet.

"I had a game with them."

"I keep running to the mailbox.

"Every line from you overwhelms me.

"Every day I thank God...

"...that you are in such good hands...

"...but please show your gratefulness."

"My dear, good, darling parents:

"I feel very safe here.

"If only I was not so very scared...

"...about your safety."

"For my birthday, you wrote me...

"...that I'll always have to be brave...

"...because you can't be happy if I'm not.

"And I can assure you...

"...that I always grit my teeth and smile."

"Your letter of yesterday

was again so sweet...

"...and written with so much love...

"...that tears came running down

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote