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5 May 2022
The Mayor of Harwich visited the nearby foundry Sculpture Services, to see the process of casting the statue in bronze
The statue is set to be unveiled on the Harwich Quayside in Autumn this year.
Harwich Mayor Ivan Henderson visited the bronze foundry on April 27th, to see the work in progress on the memorial statue.
The statue depicts five children descending from a ship’s gangplank, with moving quotes from Kinder which will be carved into the bronze.
The Harwich Standard newspaper followed up our story, click here to read it
27 March 2022
Two new commemorative oak trees in Harwich, planted by The Association of Jewish Refugees
On March 10th, the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) sponsored the planting of two new oak trees – in Cliff Park Dovercourt and in Jubilee Park Parkeston.
Jude Stratton and her son planted a tree in memory of her mother Ruth Deutsch.
Helen Reissner and her family planted a tree in memory of her father, Eric Newman.
Both relatives travelled from Vienna to this country via Harwich in 1939, as part of the Kindertransport programme.
The AJR is now celebrating its 80th anniversary. They have been a major donor and instrumental to the success of our campaign.
16 March 2022
We were devastated to hear of the sudden loss of Director Graham Crame, RIP, a great friend and veteran of many humanitarian aid convoys for Hope and Aid Direct. His compassionate and mindful legacy will continue to guide our work in building the Kindertransport Memorial in Harwich, his beloved home town, and the development and implementation of the Educational Programme.
23 February 2022
The Jewish Renaissance magazine published a full-page news item about the project, and has kindly allowed us to upload it here. Thank you also to Janine Kohan for her devoted Press work.
22 February 2022
New book publication announcement:
Get the Children out! Unsung heroes of the Kindertransport / Mike Levy
The book is available on Amazon and on the publisher’s website.
26 January 2022
Our campaign to raise funds for the memorial figures depicting five children descending a ship’s gangplank, is now realising its target.
As Holocaust Memorial Day approaches we are pleased to announce that the new memorial to the Kindertransport is set to be unveiled in Autumn 2022,
On this occasion we would like to thank the German government for contributing a significant sum, thus making it possible to reach our fundraising target.
1 December 2021
Major Donation Announcements:
We are grateful to the Grassroots Charity – operating in Colchester and Tendring – for their generous donation towards completing the memorial project.
20 November 2021
Our Trustee Sue Daish – a Harwich History Society Tour Guide – gave a brilliant interview to BBC Essex – Quest about the Kindertransport and the memorial project.
Tune in to find out about how the children experienced their arrival in Harwich, and all the significant help that locals gave the children who stayed on in Dovercourt for the winter of 1939.
Click the PLAY button to listen:
25 October 2022
Major Donation Announcements:
We are immensely grateful to Dame Stephanie Shirley for her generous donation. Dame Stephanie (Steve) arrived to the UK via Harwich in 1939 as an unaccompanied child refugee, and in 1962 started a software business from her dining table which grew to employ 8,500 people.
The memorial project was recently awarded a generous grant from the Essex Community Fund (ECF) This grant is funded by the Harwich Haven Authority, which is administered by the ECF.
24 September 2021
We collaborated on new educational resources for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2022: A large audience attended the launch event, including Lord Dubs, Vera Schaufeld MBE, and educators from all around the country.
18 August 2021 – selected items from the August newsletter:
Downton Abbey movie team donation: The team behind the global hit, recently shooting new upcoming film scenes in Harwich, have given £1,000 to the memorial appeal!
We made it to the national press! Jewish News published an article which received hundreds of shares and helped spread our story far and wide: Read & share with your contacts
Our key supporter Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) published an excellent follow up article titled “A Step Closer to Harwich” about the work on the memorial: Read on page 4
9 July 2021
We are honoured to be the first to publish an original and personal article by Ann Chadwick: Suzie
When I was two and so very new in the world, a big sister suddenly arrived, with dark curly hair, sharp elbows, a tendency to nick my dolls and speaking a language I did not understand.
Suzie was five, an Austrian Jewish refugee and forever labelled a “kindertransport child”.
Her distraught parents had handed her over at midnight on Prague station to a group of rescuers, whose efforts secured her safety and brought her into the Chadwick family.
Although Suzie’s parents later got news that she had settled well, they were not allowed to come with her and were never to see their daughter again. They were both later murdered in Auschwitz. My parents had responded to an appeal to care for a refugee child from Europe for as long as necessary, pledging the large amount of £50 towards the cost of eventual repatriation, which of course never happened. My Dad was earning £4.00 a week as a teacher.
So began our sisterhood in July 1939, just two months before the start of WW2.
I soon learned that ‘ich weiss nicht’ meant ‘I don’t understand’, and my parents soon learnt that when Suzie wailed all through the night murmuring ‘Mutti’ and ‘Taschentuch’, she wanted her Mum and a handkerchief.
They soon grew to love and understand her and so did I.
Why am I telling you all this now, 82 years later? Because I feel I owe it to her and her parents to be involved in ensuring that the children of today remember Suzie’s story*, and that of the other children on the Kindertransport.
We still see refugee children arriving today with no accompanying parents and no home to go to.
Suzie changed my life. I share our story in schools and am thrilled that there is to be a permanent memorial in Harwich where the children first felt security, and where, to their astonishment, a policeman smiled and was kind.
We need to commemorate all that the Kinder contributed to their adopted home and not let this amazing episode of history fade into the ever – decreasing ozone layer.
Suzie became an excellent nurse and the Night Superintendent at the London Hospital.
We WILL remember them and tell their story, in Harwich where the British journey all began. ‘Yes we can’ make that memorial happen, if we put our minds to it and our hands in our pockets like we did in 1939.
Suzie gave me so much, and I am the grateful one.
Article edited by Helen Brown, Community Liaison Manager
*“Suzie: the little girl who changed our lives” by Ann Chadwick. [Keystage Arts and Heritage Company, Cambridge, 2012]
2 June 2021
Artist Ian Wolter is working continuously on the memorial, and the fundraising committee was privileged to be invited to a tour inside his studio in Saffron Walden, Essex:
24 May 2021
We are now half way to funding the memorial statue!
The Harwich Kindertransport Memorial Appeal is looking now for a further £70,000 to help complete the statue on the quayside. While we continue with the fundraising campaign, we are forging partnerships with regional and national bodies, to develop the educational resources for teaching about the Kindertransport and other refugee narratives.
15 February 2021
We have now started collecting credit card donations via JustGiving.com – please visit our Support Us page for details. Meanwhile, the first figure of Ian Wolter’s statue is progressing well:
8 January 2021
The new year began with exciting news that our sculptor has started work on the memorial. Here’s a sneak preview of Ian Wolter working on the first figure.
23 December 2020
Our Chair Mike Levy gave a talk to the East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue. The topic was ‘Forgotten Heroes of the Kindertransport’. He highlighted the forgotten figures who set up the mass rescue of Jewish children from Nazi persecution. These included Wilfred Israel, Bertha Bracey and Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfeld.
8 December 2020
Pleased to announce our third and fourth donations. Thank you to all who read Mike Levy’s article in the AJR Journal, December 2020, page 10.
15 November
Our second donation has arrived – a major contribution from a private donor whose father was a key organiser of the first Kindertransports.
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