President's Residence hosts event marking 85th anniversary of Kindertransport

The 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport, which brought hundreds of German, Czech, and Austrian children to the United Kingdom, thus saving them from possible death at the hands of the Nazis, had been scheduled to take place last October. But then came the massacre by Hamas, and the Kindertransport event had to be postponed.

In the interim, some of those who had intended to participate passed away, including Ruth Davis, the mother of Jerusalem Post culture writer Barry Davis.

Thanks to the organizers of the March of the Living, the Foreign Ministry, and others, the postponed event was finally held on Wednesday at the President’s Residence, and Barry Davis was there carrying a large photograph of his mother as a little girl.

No standing necessary

The protocol for gatherings at the President’s Residence is that when the president and his wife enter the room, everyone stands up until the president sits down.

An exception was made for the Kindertransport people in deference to their advanced age, but having been brought up in England where good manners were the rule, they stood up anyway.

Many of them found it meaningful that German ambassador Steffen Seibert was also in attendance.

Some of those present had left their homes in Germany and Austria when they were only three years old. Their parents had no idea what would happen to them, nor did their parents know whether or not they would ever see them again.

But the children were fortunate in that for the most part, they were taken in by good people – both Jewish and non-Jewish – and received a good education.

Several came to Israel in the 1950s.

Who was in attendance?

Those who attended the commemoration event at the President’s Residence on Wednesday ranged in age from being in the late 80’s to 100.

Journalist Walter Bingham, who was the oldest person there, regularly comes to the President’s Residence to report on events. Notably, he and walks without a walker or a cane. He was not the only person present who displayed such strong physical resilience.

Ruth Shapiro was twice evacuated – firstly from Germany as a child and more recently from her home in Kibbutz Zikim. She said that she had not been afraid. She doesn’t know the meaning of fear, because she’s used to events that prompt fear.

Herzog said that he would come and visit her when she returned home.

He also said that the connection between the Holocaust and Hamas was more than symbolic. Because both the Nazis and Hamas had the same goal in mind.

Herzog was pleased to see that so many of the Kindertransport children were still alive today. After they became adults, they chose to come to the homeland, proving themselves to be good Zionists.

The event was very emotional for him, he added.

It was emotional for him to think of parents 85 years ago who sent away their children not knowing what would happen to either the children or themselves. It was also emotional for him to see how these children had rebuilt their lives and, in some cases, had large families and /or significant career achievements.

It also moved him, he said, to see that the March of the Living is continuing from generation to generation.

This year marks 85 years since the Second World War began, of which the Holocaust was such a tragic and notorious part.

Every year, youth from 25 countries go to Poland to participate in ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This year, said Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, Chairman and CEO of the International March of the Living, special attention will be paid to fighting antisemitism, with emphasis on the atrocities of October 7. “Now we see the [parallel] between the Holocaust and what happened in October,” he said.