KS: "My first permit to work as an apprentice in London. "
KS: KS in secondary school
KS: First driving licence
KS: "My first permit to work as an apprentice in London. "
KS: KS with his sisters
KS: On the left KS in primary school
KS: Visit to Hamburg by invitation of the Hamburg Senate. The photo shows KS and his wife Sonja at the Binnenalster
KS: On the left KS in primary school
KS: On the left father holding KS and on the right mother holding KS
KS: "My late aunt Emma
KS: "The testimonial of my first job in Hamburg before emigrating."
KS: Visiting his wife Sonja's former home town Trutnov
KS: Original birth certificate on the left and copy on the right dated October 1938.
KS: Parents at their golden wedding anniversary.
KS: Photo in the top left corner: "My eldest sister
KS: Proof of Army Service: Soldier's name and description of attestation; Description of employment
KS: Proof of Army Service: Record of employment as an Army Tradesman (Particulars of training)
KS: KS 2004
Kenneth Shindler
Born: 1919
Place of Birth: Hamburg
Arrived in Britain: 26/03/1938
Interview Number: 56 (N)
Experiences: Came With Parents or Close Family , Pioneer Corps
Interview Summary
Date of interview: 06/04/2004
Born Kurt Schindler in Hamburg in 1919, into a prosperous family who owned a merchant’s business and lived in the affluent suburb of Harvestehude. Family completely non-observant, but Ken and his wife Sonja, a refugee from the Sudetenland, made a point of keeping their Liberal observance and passing it on to their two sons. Family emigrated to London in 1938, Ken joined the Pioneer Corps early in the war. He learnt arc welding, then became an electrical engineer, moving to Birmingham in 1963, successful in his career.
Place of Birth
The message is that as an immigrant into a new environment, you must acclimatise to that. That’s the criticism I have against the immigration who are so welded together and find it so hard to break away. It makes life difficult, I think, for themselves and for others.
Refugees must acclimatise