Discoveries beyond the Kindertransport lists: The journeys on the ferries
When Jeremy Frankel reached out to me to ask if I had discovered his cousin’s Kindertransport list I did not know that we would soon be joining the dots of the Kinder’s train journeys with those of their ferry journeys and their arrival documents. Shortly after I sent Jeremy his cousin’s list, he tracked down a wealth of information about the Kinder’s crossing from mainland Europe to Britain. Thanks to Jeremy and my friend, Alan Mann we found information about the ferries which left between 30th June 1939 and the end of August 1939. We now know the name of the ferries, when they arrived in Britain, how much cargo and mail they carried on board, how many people sailed on them, and most crucially how many of those on board were refugees. Being able to correlate the Kindertransport lists I found with the ferry information has helped us understand that many of the refugees on board were Kindertransport children. We have already made some important discoveries, such as how in some cases two Kindertransports joined together to board the ferry.
Jeremy had his cousin’s World Jewish Relief (WJR) file which stated the date of his arrival. But he wanted to find specific information about the ship which carried his cousin across the sea from mainland Europe to Britain. He contacted the London North Eastern Railway (who operated a number of ships) forum and was eventually connected with the person who has this information. Jeremy described how it was like finding the “missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle”. It actually brought tears to his eyes because he was able to share this information with his cousin’s family. Jeremy is a genealogist who has helped his own family piece together their history and he has been a vital recourse for many other families who want to fill in the gaps within their own family histories of emigration and exile.
What exists is essentially a clearance book which covers a very short period of time. Jeremy remarked that it may reflect around “2000-3000” Kindertransport refugee stories. Jeremy also suggested that “the combination of knowing the Kindertransport train list, ferry [information], and arrival date, means we may be able to compile actual passenger lists for each ferry”. For Jeremy the ferry information is vital because the lists of arrivals into UK ports during this era are very difficult to come by. For example, while I have access to the disembarkation lists of the children who arrived into Southampton, something like this has yet to be found with regards to Harwich. The new ferry information is the closest we’ve ever been to knowing who actually travelled on the ships. Of course, the Kindertransport train lists are helpful because they tell us who the Kinder were who boarded these ships but there were other passengers with them.
The name of the vessels which are mentioned in the clearance book are: Amsterdam, Vienna, and Prague. The last arrivals of ships into Harwich from the continent carrying passengers were Prague from the Hook of Holland on the 2nd September 1939 and Mecklenburg from Flushing. On 3rd September 1939 Prinses Juliana arrived from Flushing and that was the end of passenger services into Harwich. All the passenger ships left Harwich after this date as they were requisitioned by the Admiralty for the war effort. The four Dutch passenger ships were laid up in Flushing after 2nd September 1939 until they too were used for the war effort. The Amsterdam was requisitioned on 5th September 1939.
Up until this point I had access to the Vienna Kindertransport lists to many different countries, the Danzig/ Gdansk Kindertransport lists to Britain, the Dutch Kindertransport lists, the Dutch transfer lists of children traveling to Britain, and the Southampton disembarkation lists of Kinder who travelled all the way by boat. However, the Harwich side of the story was missing. While we still do not have any Harwich disembarkation lists, we do now have important details of some of the ferry journeys which creates a fuller picture of the Kindertransports.
Hanna Zack Miley’s Kindertransport list was the first list I found at Yad Vashem. Thanks to Jeremy I’ve now been able to also share with Hanna, who is 93-years-old, the details of her ferry journey. Hanna journeyed on a vessel called the Vienna. It had 197 passengers on board of whom 162 were refugees. There were 49 tons of cargo loaded as well as 2 cars and a trailer, and 170 letters/ bags of mail. The ferry arrived into Harwich on 26th July 1939 at 05.30am. 58 children are listed on Hanna’s Kindertransport list including Doris, Richard Aronowitz and Chris Mercer’s mother, as well as Elaine (Rosenstock) Peizer’s mother and Alan Peizer’s mother-in-law, Suse. I wondered who the other refugees were on board. Thanks to Susan Hodgins and Helen Levy we solved the mystery. Their mothers had also travelled on a Kindertransport that day. I had sent them their Kindertransport lists and they reminded me of when their mothers journeyed. So, for the first time in over 86 years, I was able to tell the survivors and their families that 2 Kindertransports met one another at the Hook of Holland and then they traveled together on the same ferry. I found the letter sent from the Berlin Jewish community to the Dutch Kinder Committee and the Dutch border guards which stated that there would be 2 German Kindertransports travelling through the Netherlands on Tuesday 25th July 1939 via Zevenaar and Oldenzaal. The transport via Oldenzaal which Susan and Helen’s mothers were on arrived at 4.51pm, carrying 115 children. Hanna’s transport via Zevenaar arrived at 6.18pm and consisted of 58 children. Both the transports arrived at the Hook of Holland at 21.37pm. Now the dots were joined!
Another surprising detail from the ferry information was that one group of Kinder traveled with 2 horses on board. I looked at the date and realized that this was Tamara Meyer’s mother’s Kindertransport. Ursula, Tamara’s mother, left on Tuesday 18th July 1939 on a Kindertransport from northern Germany. It arrived in the Netherlands at 16.51pm via Oldenzaal with 109 children. This information was passed onto the Hook of Holland. The vessel this time was the Amsterdam. It carried 218 passengers and 119 of those were children. The cargo weighed was 62 tons, there was also a car loaded, and 148 letters/ bags of mail. The ship arrived into Harwich on 19th July 1939 at 05.45am.
I interviewed Alan Mann (mentioned above) some years ago because his father, Dennis worked on the boats as a cabin boy. His grandfather also worked on the ships as he was a chef on the Amsterdam. Alan’s father was one of the first people to welcome the children onboard. Dennis waited at the top of the gangway for the children to board the ships. There he stood with blankets and sandwiches for them. Alan remembers his father telling him how distressed many of the children were and how a few of them were seasick during the voyage. For some it was the first time that they had ever seen the sea! Alan remarks that his father said that some of the older children asked him questions in broken English such as “what’s England like?” Alan’s father tried his best to reassure them that they would be safe. Before the Kindertransport, Dennis had to look after the needs of important guests on board the ships. For example, he recalled helping Jewish and non-Jewish academics who fled Nazi occupation for Britain. Alan refers to this period in time as an ‘exodus’. The first wave of exiles – the professionals – disembarked from their journeys in Harwich and then caught trains to London. This would be the exact route many of the Kinder would make too. When the Second World War was declared Dennis was in the Hook of Holland. He had to make his own way to the French coast where he witnessed the chaos that ensued. He was fortunate to board a Royal Navy vessel which brought him back to Britain where his Kindertransport connection would continue. He was after all from Harwich, a place of arrival for many of the Kinder. Alan has been sending photographs to the Kindertransport families of the ships their relatives journeyed on. Many had not seen any images of the ships which brought their parents to safety.
I’ve not long been appointed the Kindertransport Scholar in Residence at the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR). One of the first projects we’ve launched is a new Kindertransport survey to capture people’s responses to the lists: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K27YY2G?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKz0EFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHs7fKyCArvzr1T3Z1zPlXJfgW4xXdkGWnKeS9U1VF6h3T4q4wTjZvu80yCge_aem_MQ-j9UZoU7R4tL42A3HpwA
The Kindertransport lists and the new ferry information do not only have a historical significance as they also have an emotional one. Many families have reached out to tell us about what these documents and findings mean to them.
Hanna wrote that these files “give us pieces of ourselves” and she can finally learn “the definite date and exact number of children” she journeyed with. She was not alone. The children “become real” because she can see their names.
Helen wrote that she “never thought” that she would see or gain this information.
Susan wrote to Helen that she hoped that their mothers had met on the train and boat so that “they didn’t feel as lonely or frightened”. She also said that her mom was 7 at the time and “that the older girls looked after the younger children”. Susan suggested that she could picture her mother “running up and down the [stairs of the boat which were like slippery titles] pretending she was on skates”.
86 years later we now have access to the Kindertransport train lists, ferry information, and WJR files which document life on and beyond arrival. I am proud to have recently joined the AJR to help lead historical and commemorative efforts and spread awareness of the Kindertransport, in the lead up to the 90th anniversary, in 2028. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with long-standing partner organizations, to build a comprehensive, searchable digital platform that will unite newly discovered and existing Kindertransport records.
