Oral Histories: Henry

Well first of all I was on the last Kindertransport [train out of Germany] and I was very lucky… if my train had been five hours late I don’t think I would have survived. I lost my parents and a brother in the Holocaust. My sister came a week before me but she died in Australia, 22 years ago. She had cancer. They say women live longer than men normally but I’m 98 and she died at 72 so…

Now again, we were in Wales, an Irish Earl, Dondonald, led us to Gwrych Castle, G - W - R - Y - C - H, the English called it “Gritch”. In a place called Abergele not “Abergeel” as the English called it. It was a Welsh speaking area. We worked for the local farmers. Some of the girls worked in the kitchen, some worked in the kitchens. About 200, equal amount of boys and girls from Germany, Australia, Czechoslovakia, most of them came from Vienna actually.

About one and a half years later, the Earl had to sell the castle for financial reasons. My sister was in London. We were corresponding together. She went a week before me [on the Kindertransport]

But I only had enough money to… I was on my own. I only had enough money to go as far as Birmingham. So I went to Birmingham. They found me a hostel to stay in. We were clearing bombed houses in Birmingham. Heard of firewatching? During the war when the bombing was there, people had to stay behind in factories, a few people on the roof for the use of incendiary bombs, we were trained especially for the sterile pump, a special way to put out the sterile pump and control the fire. [It was] “all clear” then so we came down, made ourselves tea and had cakes. Suddenly the door opened.. A German airman [had crashed]. I was nineteen. He was only about my age. Covered in blood and shaking. There was a middle aged man and an Irish chap about my age. He said: “He’s g-g-g-got a g-g-gun.”

I went over [to the airman] and said “give me the revolver.” Just like that. And he just handed it over and I put it out of reach. Much to my annoyance, I made him a cup of tea, gave him a cigarette.

The other [person working with me] went to the ARP (air raid precautions) to call the police to come to collect him. We were chatting, he came from Mecklenburg. After about half an hour he said “how do you speak such good German?” I said “I grew up in Kiel. I’m a Jewish refugee.” And he pointed at the Irish chap there” “You look just like him! “I said how do you expect me to look? With horns and a tail!” No really he did! The German antisemitic papers they had these ugly caricatures how Jews were supposed to look. Huge noses. Ears like that. They thought all Jews looked like that.

The war was practically over. So I was asked then, “You lived in Germany, how is your German?” I said “Like a German!”. She [the British army rep] said “the Americans asked for German speaking personnel but they want to have their post censored in Occupied Germany. Nearly all the soldiers don’t want to do it - they want to go home! So would you like to work for the American army?” I said “yes please!”. So that took another few weeks before the Americans interviewed me about my German. And then we went to Munich.

All post in occupied Germany was censored. Anything that was blackmarket went to the German police. Anything uncomplimentary to the Occupation - cut it out with a pair of scissors! I enjoyed that!

Another thing gonna make you laugh… One of the people who worked in the American army, a black man, he must have been 6’2 from Alabama or Georgia… the demobbed German soldiers they used to polish the shoes for one cigarette it was. He had his shoes polished, went round the corner made his shoes dirty and had them polished again. He said in Alabama “I polish the whiteman’s shoes. Whilst I’m here they’re gonna polish my shoes!”

Twice I went to [my hometown] Kiel from Munich. The British soldiers had a place they called it The Empire. I spoke to some of them. One was a big Scottish giant, the other was Jewish. I told them my story.

“You must have met some bastards around here!”

I said “yes, one of them [my old English teacher who had treated me terribly and threatened my family with deportation] doesn’t live very far from here”.

He used some obscene words about what we should do to him.

I said “why not?!”

We knocked at the door. He opened the door. “Heinrich! How nice to see you again!”

I said to him, I called him some rude things, so I told him a few things.

First of all I said, “Speak English” because I knew he used to teach English, “Speak English so they should understand.” I was amazed at his thick accent! Maybe that’s why I’ve still got the German accent!

Anyway [my old teacher said to me] “How dare you speak to me like that you snotty nosed Jewboy” and he grabbed me by… [the collar]

The Scottish [soldier] goes “You dare touch a British lad!”

And he [my old teacher] must have been 65, 70 years old, [the Scottish soldier] punched him in the chin, his eyes were rolling, he fell down and I thought he was dead!

His wife comes down shouting “Hilfe! Hilfe! Englischer Mord!” (Help! Help! English Murderers!)

I had a German girlfriend from Munich, Inge her name was. We were talking about marrying, she was going to convert. Her father mentioned to me, “I don't mind her marrying a Jew but at least a rich one!”

I said “I’ll be rich one day! Don’t worry!” But the thing is she showed me a picture…Her brother got killed on the Russian front and there was a memorial service and she was in the female Hitler Youth, they called them the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel) with a swastika on her arm and I had all goose pimples. I realised I could never marry her. It would always be with us. But it wasn’t a very nice thing what I did.

I waited until we had a row and I made up a silly excuse. It was a silly row. It wasn’t nice but I was 21, 22 years old down there. So a friend of hers got in touch with me “Stupid row! What you do that for?”

So I told her the real reason.

“I understand” she says. “But you should have told her” I said “I know I’m sorry.” You tell her and tell her I’m sorry about it”. But it would always be with us.

I’m an adopted Eastender. I get on much better with Jewish East End people than I do with the people from Kindertransport, who live mostly in North West London, in Golders Green and Hendon, I do. I feel estranged from them… I feel more comfortable with the people I’m here with now.

I’ve been living in the East End… let me think I got married in 1949, [since] 1953. Maybe you think it’s superstition but I feel my wife’s spirit is in that flat. We’ve lived in that flat for 64… 63 years, been married 67 years. And I feel she’s there. I call her sometimes. I hear the wind shut the door and I think that’s her. We were really very close. I was very very lucky that I met her. Hm…