Kindertransport 75th Anniversary Events

The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) is delighted to announce that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will be hosting a lunchtime reception for the Kindertransport at St James’s Palace on Monday 24 June as part of a series of events this year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Kindertransport.

The reception will take place the day after the 75th anniversary reunion at JFS when the actress Maureen Lipman, who starred in The Pianist, and the former Foreign Secretary the Rt Hon David Miliband MP, whose father was a refugee from Nazi oppression, will be the guest speakers. As part of the proceedings, JFS pupils will be performing a re-enactment of the debate in the House of Commons that precipitated the creation of the Kindertransport and the JFS choir will be singing a selection of evocative songs.

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, whose grandfather Dr. Georg Salzberger was the Rabbi of the Westend Synagogue in Frankfurt am Main, the interior of which was destroyed on 9 November 1938, will lead a service of remembrance and there will be the opportunity to view the new exhibition on the Kindertransport that the Wiener Library is curating. Above all there will be a unique opportunity for Kinder to socialise and renew acquaintances.

The AJR is also encouraging the children and grandchildren of Kinder to come along to another special reception between 6:30pm-9:30pm on Monday 24 June for the Second and Third Generations. The focus of this event will be how their parents and grandparents got here, where they came from and the different ways they travelled and arrived. There will be notable guest speakers, time to socialise and network, eat, drink and to meet old and make new friends. A London venue is to be confirmed but please rsvp and direct any queries to events [at] secondgeneration.org.uk or visit the organizers’ websites www.secondgeneration.org.uk and www.kindertransport.org

A symposium on the Kindertransport, being organized by the Leo Baeck Institute London (LBI) in cooperation with the German Historical Institute London (GHIL), the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies and with Aberystwyth University (School of European Languages), will be held on Tuesday 25 June at the GHIL.

On Wednesday 20 November, the AJR is organizing, with the help of Lord (Alf) Dubs, a special Tea in the House of Parliament to mark the debate held there on 21 November 1938 which paved the way for the arrival of the Kindertransport. To round off the year, World Jewish Relief, in conjunction with the AJR, will be arranging a memorial service at Liverpool Street Station on Sunday 1 December, which recalls the arrival 75 years to the day of the first transport of children.

Announcing these special events, AJR-Kindertransport Chairman, Sir Erich Reich said: “It is a great honour to be invited by His Royal Highness and a wonderful recognition of the high esteem in which he holds the Kinder. The reception at St James’s Palace will be part of an historic three days of events for the Kinder and our families from around the world to socialise, renew acquaintances and share their experiences.

I look forward to meeting Kinder and their families at all these very special occasions as we commemorate one of the greatest rescue missions of the 20th century, give thanks to the British government and help create the legacy of the Kindertransport.”

People interested in attending any of these events are asked to contact the AJR on 020 8385 3070 or by emailing kt [at] ajr.org.uk