Figure 1.--This photograph shows an Austrian and German boy dressed in their new English prep school uniforms--grey flannel, single-breasted short pants suits, with V-neck sweaters (note the stripe at the V), white shirts, and the school tie. They also wear grey knee socks with a contrasting color at the top and black Oxford shoes, although you can't see their full outfits in this frame. The boys are perhaps 7 and 9 years old.

This photograph shows two German-Jewish boys dressed in their new English prep school uniforms--grey flannel, single-breasted short pants suits, with V-neck sweaters (note the stripe at the V), white shirts, and the school tie. They also wear grey knee socks with a contrasting color at the top and black Oxford shoes, although you can't see their full outfits in this frame. The boys are perhaps 7 and 9 years old. The fact that the boys are enrolled in a prep school of course means that their new English guardians are affluent and taking a real interest in the children's education. Her the attitudes of the English guardians varied. Some even used the children as servants. A reader writes, "The picture you have of the two boys is a school photograph taken long after they had arrived in England and enrolled in a prep school. I know the whole story of these boys. They had had a terrible journey over. Both were bad travellers had had suffered travel sickness. The lady who became their 'Mum' and still is took them home but their appearance turned the trusted house keeper to ask why she picked such dirty children! A bath clean clothes and two lovely boys appeared! Anyway there is sadness and joy. I think they were reunited with their parents after the war.

The Journey

The boys after leaving their family had a terrible journey over. Both were bad travellers had had suffered travel sickness. The lady who became their 'Mum' and still is took them home but their appearance turned the trusted house keeper to ask why she picked such dirty children! A bath clean clothes and two lovely boys appeared!

Percy and Mariam Cohen

The fact that the boys are enrolled in a prep school of course means that their new English guardians are affluent and taking a real interest in the children's education. Her the attitudes of the English guardians varied. Some even used the children as servants. These boys were taken in by Percy and Mariam Cohen. They were a Jewish faamily. Many of the Kindertransport children were taken in by Jewish families in Britain, but many were taken in by non-Jewish families. The Cohen's took in these two boys and treated them like their own childrem tking their educatin very seriously.

Prep School

A reader writes, "The picture you have of the two boys is a school photograph taken long after they had arrived in England and enrolled in a prep school. W see them here dressed in their prep school uniforms--grey flannel, single-breasted short pants suits, with V-neck sweaters (note the stripe at the V), white shirts, and the school tie. They also wear grey knee socks with a contrasting color at the top and black Oxford shoes, although you can't see their full outfits in this frame. The boys are perhaps 7 and 9 years old.

Kurt Fuchel (1931- )

The older boy is Kurt Fuchel. The other boy became his foster brother. Kurt had no brothers. He was born in Vienna, Austria on September 11, 1931. His father had been a bank manager in Austria. His moter was a housewife. His strongest memories of Vienna wre the street cars (trams). He recalls, "Hearing a tram conductor curse because he had pulled the bell on the wrong side of the car; before the Anschluss, traffic in Austria ran on the left; afterwards, on the right. This caused considerable confusion." About the trip to England he recalls, "I left on a Kindertransport in February of 1939. My strongest memory of the trip was the large, cavernous hold of the ship, illuminated by bare bulbs, and Red Cross nurses giving us tea throughout the night." About England he writes, "My situation was unusual: I knew where I was going. A Viennese shoe salesman was visiting Norwich (which was a shoe manufacturing town), and he got in touch with the Jewish community, and explained the dangerous situation to them. The result was that many volunteered to take a child. I stayed with Percy and Mariam Cohen until 1947." Luckily his parents also escaoped the NAZIs. He explains, "Yes: my parents left Austria, and made their way through Italy into the South of France. They traveled eastward, and eventually settled in the Tarn Region, where they were hidden by good French people. However, of those of my extended family who stayed behind, only two out of 12 siblings of my grandfather survived." About te experience he writes, "I became used to "going with the flow" and not affirming myself, so I am not an assertive person. I lack confidence in social situations, and I frequently feel like an outsider, and stand apart. While I was in England, I knew that my parents might someday come and reclaim me, and, as a consequence, I have difficulty with making a 100% commitment." The family emmigrated to America after being reunited.

Sources

Kindertransport Association Web page.

Created: February 23, 2004
Last updated: February 25, 2004