The Jewish Observer(sm)
Los Angeles
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SPECIAL REPORT
6-12 Shevat, 5772 Jan. 20-Feb. 5, 2012 -- THE JEWISH OBSERVER, LOS ANGELES -- 457th Web Ed.
NEW LIFE OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN PICTURES
Cont'd from Home Page
The children had been separated from their families and many of their parents died during the war. Co-ordinated by the Central British Fund, 260 boys and 40 girls were flown to a new life in England. Most of the group were boys - some of whom had been selected for slave labor by the Nazis - as it was harder for girls of that age to survive.
The children were settled in what had been workers' accommodation at an aircraft factory on the banks of Lake Windermere. The Calgarth Estate was the children's home for two months before they were split into groups and given the chance to choose where they wanted to live in Britain.
The hostel at Calgarth was the first clean accommodation most of the children had experienced in five years. Initially many of them would hide bread under their mattresses as they had so little food during the war they were not convinced that breakfast would come again the next day.
Life in the Lake District was a world away from the children's experience in occupied Europe. Many of them had seen death at close quarters, often of family members. Following their arrival in England, the Red Cross helped them try to trace their families. All but a dozen had lost both parents but some did find siblings and aunts and uncles.
The children had been separated from their families and many of their parents died during the war. Co-ordinated by the Central British Fund, 260 boys and 40 girls were flown to a new life in England. Most of the group were boys - some of whom had been selected for slave labor by the Nazis - as it was harder for girls of that age to survive.
The children were settled in what had been workers' accommodation at an aircraft factory on the banks of Lake Windermere. The Calgarth Estate was the children's home for two months before they were split into groups and given the chance to choose where they wanted to live in Britain.
The hostel at Calgarth was the first clean accommodation most of the children had experienced in five years. Initially many of them would hide bread under their mattresses as they had so little food during the war they were not convinced that breakfast would come again the next day.
Life in the Lake District was a world away from the children's experience in occupied Europe. Many of them had seen death at close quarters, often of family members. Following their arrival in England, the Red Cross helped them try to trace their families. All but a dozen had lost both parents but some did find siblings and aunts and uncles.
Life in the Lake District was a world away from the children's experience in occupied Europe. Many of them had seen death at close quarters, often of family members. Following their arrival in England, the Red Cross helped them try to trace their families. All but a dozen had lost both parents but some did find siblings and aunts and uncles.
In November 1945 when the children left Calgarth, many moved to Manchester where they lived in a hostel. It was run like a boarding a school with lessons in English, mathematics, history and geography. The boys mixed with the local Jewish community and formed a football team at a local youth centre.
Many of the boys became members of The Springfield Club, a youth social centre in Manchester. The Manchester Jewish Refugees Committee helped the boys find work and
supplemented their wages so they could afford rent and have some spending money.
Partly due to their lack of family the children maintained strong links with each other over the years. They formed the 45 Aid Society which holds annual dinners and a lecture series. The Windermere Boys --BBCi