Lia Lesser: With Schultüte on her first day of school
Lia Lesser: April 2023
Lia Lesser: Lia (bottom left) presents her teacher
Lia Lesser: "These are five books that I brought with me on June the 30th 1939 when I arrived in this country."
Lia Lesser: Lia on her wedding day at the reception with her guardian
Lia Lesser: Lia war sister of Ward Seven of the General Hospital
Lia Lesser: Aunt Editha and from the right cousin Eva
Lia Lesser: Lia at Hinton Hall having her schoolwork marked by Mr. Krušina
Lia Lesser: Family tree
Lia Lesser: Hinton Hall
Lia Lesser: Alphabetical list of the ca. 200-250 children of the transport on which Lia arrived from Prague to England
Lia Lesser: Third page of Lia's passport
Lia Lesser: Mother Ida Blum
Lia Lesser: Lia in 1939 with Tiger the tabby cat at the house in Llangefni.
Lia Lesser: With her father Pawel Blum ca. 1935
Lia Lesser: Lia with her new bicycle in the garden of Heather Bank
Lia Lesser: Mrs Griffiths from Ty Gwyn Farm in Bull Bay where Lia and her guardian used to collect their milk. Lia is hugging the sheepdog's puppies
Lia Lesser: Cover of Lia's passport she travelled on to England on the last day of June 1939.
Lia Lesser: Entry visa for Great Britain
Lia Lesser: Grandparents Max Fuchs and Stepanka Fuchsova. In the middle
Lia Lesser: April 2023
Lia Lesser: "Kindertransport afternoon tea at St James’s Palace at the invitation of Prince Charles
LL. The only piece of jewellery Lia brought when she came to England in 1939. It is Moses giving the Law on Mount Sinai. Given to her by her parents "to make sure she knew she was Jewish".
Lia Lesser: Engraved back of the necklace her parents gave Lia
Lia Lesser: Lia and Philip on their wedding day
LL. Lia holding the necklace her parents gave her before she left Czechoslovakia
Lia Lesser: Lia
Lia Lesser: "This is Lia in 1939 in Littlefield in Llangefni. And Lia has got on her national costume. "
Lia Lesser: Lia's guardian "Mouse" Mrs Florence Mullen with her husband Pat Mullen
Lia Lesser: Lia holding her entry visa to Great Britain
Lia Lesser: Lia holding the necklace her parents gave her before she left Czechoslovakia
Lia Lesser: "This is me
Lia Lesser: Hinton Hall girls dancing
Lia Lesser: Lia 's passport
Lia Lesser: Czechoslovak state school
Lia Lesser: On the right is cousin
Lia Lesser: Admission booklet given to patients
Lia Lesser: "Starting at the bottom
Lia Lesser: Nursery nurse’s training in Birmingham
Lia Lesser
Lia Lesser was born Liana Blumova in 1931 in Teplice-Šanov, Czechoslovakia, to divorced parents who both remarried
Born: 1931
Place of Birth: Teplitz-Schönau
Arrived in Britain: 01/07/1939
Experiences: Czechoslovak State School, Llanwrtyd Wells , Kindertransport , Sir Nicholas Winton transport
Interview Summary
Lia Lesser was born Liana Blumova in 1931 in Teplice-Šanov, Czechoslovakia, to divorced parents who both remarried. Her mother Ida ran a haberdashery shop and her father Pavel was a commercial traveller. She remembers a happy childhood with grandparents and cousins and no antisemitism. She doesn’t remember her journey to Britain on a Kindertransport organised by Nicholas Winton but remembers the devastating scenes of children of all ages saying goodbye to their distraught parents at Prague station.
At Liverpool Street Station Lia was the last child to be picked up. Her guardian, Ms Florence Hall, was a teacher from Anglesey. Ms Hall had heard on the radio about the plight of Jews in Europe and got in touch with the Czech Refugee Trust Fund. Ms Hall came from a large family who treated Lia like one of their own. However, her bungalow had no running water or electricity.
Lia corresponded with her parents until 1942 but was beginning to forget how to speak Czech and German. Ms Hall, worried that Lia might not be able to communicate with her parents after the war, sent her to the Czech School in Exile, first located in Whitchurch, Shropshire, later evacuated to Llanwrtyd Wells in Breconshire. There was also a rabbi providing a Jewish education. Lia remembers her time there fondly, making many friends for life. Her school holidays she spent back home in Anglesey. After finishing school, she started her nurse’s training as a at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. In her search for belonging, Lia visited several Christian churches but when she set foot in a synagogue, she felt immediately that she had arrived at the right place. Later she met her husband Philipp whose family background was Jewish Polish.
After the war, Lia learnt her family had perished in the Holocaust. Only her father’s second wife Ola survived Auschwitz and got in touch with Lia in 1946. She met with Lia after the war in Prague where they managed to retrieve some photos and jewellery. At the end of her interview, Lia is joined by her daughter Naomi and they talk about the impact of the Holocaust on Lia and the second generation.
Key words: Teplice-Šanov. Nicholas Winton. Anglesey. Czech School in Exile. Whitchurch. Llanwrtyd Wells, Breconshire. Birmingham.
Place of Birth
Because my mother had the foresight to send me on Kindertransport I was the only survivor of my family. This very sad day when we went to the main station in Prague and my parents saw me off and my father was very, very upset and he didn't want me to go.
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