Henry Kuttner: Mother (2nd right)
Henry Kuttner: Henry's parents' engagement
Henry Kuttner: Henry with uncle Martin and aunt Betty
Henry Kuttner:
Henry Kuttner: Wedding day of father's parents
Henry Kuttner: Henry and Molly Kuttner with first child
Henry Kuttner: Henry and sister Lilo
Henry Kuttner: Henry in Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers uniform, with his parents, 1950
Henry Kuttner: Henry and sister Lilo (Liselotte) in front of 67 Hauptstrasse
Henry Kuttner: Henry's parents and his children, Hanukkah, London, around 1963
Henry Kuttner: Henry and Molly Kuttner
Henry Kuttner:
Henry Kuttner: Father's surgery
Henry Kuttner: School photograph
Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner was born in 1929 in Berlin
Born: 1929
Place of Birth: Berlin
Arrived in Britain: 09/02/2039
Interview Number: 135 (S)
Experiences: British Military , Came With Parents or Close Family
Interview Summary
Henry Kuttner was born in 1929 in Berlin. After Kristallnacht his father Hans Kuttner was sent to a concentration camp and the family came to the UK in 1939 on a British Transit Visa to Peru. During the war Henry was evacuated with his school. Both his father and he have been very involved in Belsize Square Synagogue.
Place of Birth
Visiting my grandma, Oma Kuttner, was always a joy. She would entertain us with her piano playing and make the most wonderful meals. What stands out for me was the cheese blintzes she made – very difficult to do. Apparently you make them in the frying pan and then you bake them. So they’re sort of twice cooked. Very labour intensive, but for her family this was not too much trouble.
Unless you were a refugee there’s really no point imagining what it was like to be one. All I can say is refugees need understanding. There are plenty of refugees in the world today who need understanding, help. And it’s no good looking the other way and pretending it’s not happening. So my message is: for God’s sake, help other people.
My father was very, very active in one of the biggest athletics clubs in Germany called the Sport Club Charlottenburg. I’ve been to visit them. They still remember him. He was the only ever Jewish President of that club. He organised the Potsdam-Berlin relay races in 1922. He wrote the history of the club.
My father’s surgery had to move out in 1938. He was a dental surgeon. He took over what had been my room and made it into a surgery… until the 10th of November, when he was arrested and taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he stayed for 4 weeks. They’d taken him down the front stairs. I don’t now remember what my mother told me, but it was a pretty horrendous time.
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