THE PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG PAYS HER RESPECTS TO HOLOCAUST KINDER ON THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT
The President of German Bundestag, Bärbel Bas visited the Kindertransport Memorial on Liverpool Street Station this morning, to pay her respects to the Kinder of the first generation and Holocaust survivors. Bärbel Bas’ visit coincides with the forthcoming 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport.
As well as the AJR, in attendance were also representatives from World Jewish Relief, as well as Lord Eric Pickles, Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues of the UK Government.
The AJR arranged for Kinder including Kurt Marx BEM, Susie Barnett BEM, Rolf Penzias, Ingeborg Hamilton and Dame Stephanie Shirley, to attend President Bas’ tribute to the Kindertransport effort, at Liverpool Street Station.
The President of German Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, commented: “We must never lose sight of the past, that is my firm conviction. When we talk about the future, we must be conscious of history. That is why it was so important to me, amidst the many current political discussions, to also come here during my visit to London in order to remember the persecution of the Jews by Nazi Germany, and at the same time to thank the UK for having saved more than 10,000 persecuted Jewish children from the prospect of being murdered.
“We remain indebted and immensely grateful to organisations such as the Association of Jewish Refugees and World Jewish Relief for the important contribution they continue to make today. I am deeply moved to stand at the Kindertransport memorial with some of the children who were rescued 85 years ago, to talk with them, and to remember what happened to them.”
Kurt Marx, one of the Kinder who arrived in the UK, via Kindertransport, from Cologne Germany in 1939 commented: “It seems incredible that I’m standing here, alongside The President of The German Bundestag, 85-years after being forced to flee my home, to seek refuge in Great Britain. In a climate of rising Holocaust distortion, it is so important that the first generation stand alongside today’s German Government to remember the atrocities of Nazi genocide”.
Michael Newman, The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR), CEO commented: “As the national organisation representing and supporting Holocaust refugees and survivors, we are immensely grateful to President Bas for including this visit in her itinerary. It is an important symbol of reconciliation and helps strengthen links today between The AJR, the former refugees and Germany.”
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