Kindertransport from Vienna to Sweden

Though an avid reader of the AJR Journal, I have never come across any mention of transports from Vienna to Sweden in June 1939. I left my mother in Vienna by herself as, following his release from Dachau, where he spent the winter of 1938-39, my father was able to go to England in March 1939. My mother and I spent the intervening months going from one embassy to another in search of entry visas. Eventually my mother obtained a domestic permit for England, but one that excluded a child. So, when the opportunity arose for me to go to Sweden, she was brave enough to accept it and send me. She herself arrived in England only two weeks before the war started. In Öregrund, a coastal city north of Stockholm, I was taken in by a deeply religious Christian family. They had no children of their own and the husband was blind, so to take me in was a very Samaritan act – especially as they spoke no German and I, of course, no Swedish. They lived in a simple little wooden house with the latrine at the bottom of the garden. The husband earned a living weaving baskets. Quite a culture shock for a nine-year-old from a middle class family with a Kinderfräulein and Köchin at home (my mother and father had been in business together)! I stayed with this family for a year, following which I was transferred to the coastal city of Gävle and to another family not as religious or Samaritan-minded. The 18 months I spent in Gävle were the unhappiest of my life. When my parents managed to send me some money to have my photo taken after nearly two years’ separation, my hostess said to me ‘Don’t waste your money on a photo – your parents are no longer alive as London is being bombed daily.’ After 18 months the family applied to host more children. They were being paid for us by the Jewish organisation in Sweden. After a while, two sisters, Hansi and Else, arrived. They were 14 and 12 respectively and were from Germany. The three of us slept in one bed. When Hansi saw what was going on in this family (I will spare you the details!) she said she would apply to the Jewish organisation to have us moved, which we were soon afterwards. A lady came from Stockholm, waited for us outside school, took us to the host family and told us to pack our belongings. We left on the same day. Events moved fast. I was so relieved to be leaving this family. Without Hansi I wouldn’t have known what to do or have had the courage to do anything about my misery. We were taken to a children’s home in Ebbarp, where I settled in with all the other Jewish children from Austria and Germany. I stayed there for about a year. One day, in November 1942, the matron told me I was going to England to my parents. Taken completely by surprise, I had again to pack my belongings, was collected by someone and taken to Stockholm, where I waited for further instructions. All these events left me reeling with emotions I couldn’t really express. The journey was to be by a small plane, which had to fly over Norway. Norway was occupied by the Germans and planes were frequently being shot down, but at the time I was totally unaware of this. There were onl y about nine passengers on board, among them an English lady who had been visiting relatives in Sweden and had been caught out by the war. This lady looked after me and, when we landed in Aberdeen, helped me to phone my parents in London. While my parents were aware the Red Cross was trying to arrange my journey to England, because of the sensitivity of flight information they had no idea when this was going to happen. After my phone call telling them I would be on the overnight train from Aberdeen to Kings Cross, my mother fainted! I found the reunion with my parents very odd. I had become quite estranged from them and my poor mother thought she could pick up from when she had last seen me as a nine-year-old four years earlier. I should mention that I didn’t feel up to getting in touch with any of the children I left behind. I regret this and would love to know what happened to the sisters Hansi and Else, who were in Gävle with me and then came to the children’s home in Ebbarp. Their surname might have been Rippner, from Berlin. If anyone who was on the Kindertransport from Vienna to Sweden reads this, I would love to hear from you. Also, if anyone knows the whereabouts of Hansi and Else, please get in touch. Helga Zitcer (née Eichner) [email protected]