Holocaust Memorial Day

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day in January, longtime friends of KGS, Bob and Ann Kirk, visited us to talk to First and Third Year students about escaping Nazi Germany. Florence Coen in First Year tells us more.

We were very fortunate to experience, first-hand, a story of two people who came to the UK via the Kindertransport from Germany during WW2. It was an interesting and thought-provoking talk, and we were all very touched by their experiences and what Bob and Ann had to go through as German Jews. The journey to safety for them as a young child must have been extremely difficult especially leaving your parents at that age and not knowing whether you would ever see them again.

Before boarding the Kindertransport, Bob and Ann knew little about what was happening, apart from the attacks on the Jewish population which their families told them about. When the Kirks arrived in the UK, they spoke little English and struggled to communicate with others. Ann was fortunate as she knew that her aunts would be looking after her. However, children such as Bob were less fortunate. His foster parents did not collect him, forcing him to be sent to children’s homes. He moved around until he joined the Army as a prisoner of war translator.

Bob and Ann met one another in a local Jewish community, fell in love and got married. They had two children and have had a happy life together. Their story really made us think about the Holocaust and about how challenging it must be to settle into a new country as a refugee.