Leo, one of five children born in Berlin, came to Scotland with two siblings on the Kindertransport (see Isi Metzstein, his brother). His father, a Communist, was killed in 1933. He first lived with a Quaker family, then in a hostel in Skelmorlie. Failing his “11 Plus” exam by one mark meant that he did … Read more
Kathy was born in Hungary in 1942. Her father was taken away when she was one year old and she and her mother were taken to the Munkacs ghetto in 1944. She was smuggled out to her grandmother’s in Budapest just before the ghetto was liquidated. She emigrated to Israel in 1959 and stayed on … Read more
Karola (Hannah) was born in Dusseldorf in 1925. She describes the horror of Kristallnacht in her parent’s flat with the Nazis being “…the fanatic horde of raving animals…smashing and slashing”. She and her sister escaped on the last Kindertransport. Sadly, her parents did not survive. In 2003 her primary school was renamed in her honour … Read more
Judith was born in Hungary and had a happy childhood until the Nazis invaded in 1944. Her family was sent to Auschwitz, where her father was immediately killed. She and her mother were saved by being sent to work in a munitions factory in Germany. She was liberated by the Americans and worked as an … Read more
Professor Subak Sharpe was born in Vienna. He came on the Kindertransport. He was originally placed as a farmer’s boy because he was regarded as not worth educating but ran away to the army. After the war he studied genetics and later switched to virology. He became director of the Institute of Virology in Glasgow … Read more
John Stewart MacKay, a Scottish soldier who married a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, had a truly remarkable life. He describes his army experiences as a commando in great detail including the attack on Tobruk. Then he explains how he and his friend escaped from an Italian prisoner of war camp and speaks of the Italian families … Read more
John was a Scottish Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery who was haunted by his experience of being part of the British Forces which entered Belsen Concentration Camp in April 1945. In his memoir he describes the horrors he saw. The situation was chaotic. Hundreds of Jewish internees were dying every day and over 10,000 bodies … Read more
Joe was born in France in 1937 to Polish parents. After the Nazis invaded France in 1940, his father, who was in the Polish army, managed to take his family to safety in Britain. He became an engineer and later worked as a tour manager taking groups to Communist countries. Read More
Born in Berlin, Isi describes watching the synagogue adjacent to his school burning on Kristallnacht, while a crowd of local people stood by enjoying what was happening. He reached Scotland in 1939, first living in Hardgate and then in a hostel in Skelmorlie. He explains how he became a world renowned architect and reflects on … Read more
“… I will never, never forget waving goodbye to my parents when I was on the train and they were on the platform running along.” In 1939, Ingrid came to Britain on the Kindertransport from Germany. Her parents did manage to escape and the family were reunited in Scotland. She married Henry (see his testimony) … Read more