Fur Das Kind - Vienna

This is rather a late post about the unveiling of a Kindertransport memorial in Vienna. The text and the photos were provided by the artist Flor Kent and are used with her permission.

In a dignified ceremony a sculpture pays tribute to Britain. Für Das Kind- Vienna at Westbahnhof Railway Station commemorates the kindertransport operation which saved the lives of thousands of children 70 years ago


"And the distant whistle of the train / now in my ear still rings. What's going on? Nothing. Some Jews go into the wide world." Recited by actor Cornelius Obonya, the poem "Jews at the station" by Walter Linden opened last Friday's moving ceremony surrounding the unveiling of "Für Das Kind- Vienna by Flor Kent at Austria's Westbahnhof station.

The event coincided with the 70th Anniversary of the Anschluss and was inaugurated by Austria's Minister of Transport Werner Faymann and Chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg in the presence of hundreds of "kinder" and descendants from all over the world. For many of them, now in their seventies and eighties, it was their first time back in Vienna since their escape as children with the Kindertransport.

During a period of nine months in 1938-39 - before the outbreak of the Second World War - 10,000 mostly Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland were saved from persecution by the Nazi regime and brought to Britain. The Kindertransports were organized at the time with the help of Christians of many denominations, Christadelphians, Quakers and Jews together. Austrian children went from Vienna-Westbahnhof Railway Station in the direction of Holland, where they travelled in ships to England.

"We celebrate today a rare moment of light at a time of true darkness. The elements within the work offers evidence and witness to this historical event" said Kent.

Unveiling of Für Das Kind- Vienna with (l-r) Minister of Transport Werner Fayman Austria's Chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg, artist Flor Kent and "Kind" Sara Schreiber with her family, including great grandson Sam Morris who was the model for the sculpture

An emotional high point for numerous survivors was the appearance of the boy who served as a model for the artist to use in the memorial: the nine-year-old Sam Morris in the company of his great-grandmother Sara Schreiber, and who spoke on behalf of the "kinder". ". Without the help of courageous people who helped during the persecution "I would not be born, my statue would not be here because I would not exist. It will remind everyone how precious life is” said the lad with a broad English accent.

It is the small boy in Kent's sculpture which sits on a large suitcase looking into the distance. Over 200 "Kinder" and their descendants from all over the world attended the ceremony. Milli Segal, initiator of the project, recalled the 10,000 rescued children in view of to the one and a half million children murdered "on the conscience" of the Nazi regime.

For most of this occasion was their first time in Austria since they left as children 70 years before. Schreiber said "I left Austria from this station and was with my mother here for the last time . I have in my head my last picture of her in this place, "Auf Wiedersehen" she said. Schreiber was saved by Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld, who personally rescued more than four thousand children and many other thousands of Jews from the clutches of the Nazis. Other Kinder saved by Christadelphians and Quakers also talked about their experiences.

Minister Faymann said the appearance of Sam Morris was a sign "that the next generation will not forget." "During the Nazi terror regime humans were often sent from the stations to their deaths, this action succeeded to send people also from this station to life." Peter Klugar, chairman of OBB Holding Company, said: "This always has to be heard about so that it never happens again".

I know I have said this several times before but I loved the original kindertransport memorial at Liverpool Street station. I would spend a lot time looking at the memorabilia the children brought with them, family photos (virtually of the adults were murdered during the Holocaust), books (you can see a copy of Struwwelpeter top left) , a glove puppet of a Siamese cat. The memorabilia is now at the Imperial War Museum. The statue itself has not yet got a new home. I hope it will - it deserves to be seen.

A new Kindertransport memorial in Vienna

Fur Das Kind - Liverpool Street

Note: This post has beenchanged following an email from the artist Flor Kent. The Fur Das Kind in Vienna is not the one that used to be at Liverpool Street station.

Like so many other suburbanites I commute to work in central London. Living in Romford the rail terminus I use is Liverpool street station in the City. Rather than get directly on the underground I usually cut across the City to Mansion House.

This takes me through Hope Square just outside the station’s main entrance. In 2003 Sir Nicholas Winton unveiled a memorial there called “Fur das Kind” to commemorate the Kinder transport – a rescue mission that saved around 10,000 mainly Jewish children from Nazi occupied areas just before the outbreak of WWII. At the time the, memorial consisted of a statue of a small girl beside a transparent suitcase filled with memorabilia brought by the children, including books, toys and, poignantly, photographs of family members who almost certainly perished during the Holocaust. Sadly the case did not turn out to be an ideal environment for the memorabilia so it was removed leaving just the base and the statue of the child. The whole memorial was replaced by a different statue in late 2006. Sadly Fur das kind statue is currently homeless.

I received this press release a few days ago. I am delighted to hear that another Fur Das Kind is to go on display again in Austria.

AUSTRIAN COMMEMORATIVE SCULPTURE TO HONOUR BRITAIN

A Commemorative Sculpture in honour of the British People is to be unveiled on Friday 14^th of March at the Westbahnhof railway station in Vienna. Under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Austria, the sculpture Für Das Kind-Vienna by artist Flor Kent, celebrates the British role in rescuing thousands of Austrian children, mostly Jewish, through operation Kindertransport from 1938 to 1939. The tribute is to be unveiled by Minister of Transport Mr. Werner Faymann. Most of the rescued left for Great Britain from Westbahnhof Station.

The ceremony will take place to coincide with the 70^th anniversary of the “Anschluss” – the Annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Hitler announced the legislation of the Anschluss on the 13^th March 1939. Opponents of the new regime as well as the Jewish people, who were expropriated and deprived of civil rights, were arrested and deported to concentration camps. By a change in British Parliament’s legislation, thousands of vulnerable children were saved from a desperate future under Nazi terror at the onset of World War II. The rescue movement was unique in that Jews, Quakers, and Christians of many denominations worked together to rescue the children.

An international group of “children”, saved by different rescuers including Dr Rabbi Solomon Schonfield, the Quakers, the Christadelphians and many others, now in their seventies and eighties and living in different parts of the world, will be attending the event along with other official guests.

I originally thought that this was the Fur das kind that statue that had graced Liverpool Street station I hope it gets a new home. I do miss it: it was more attractive than its replacement. I am delighted, though, that the kindertansport is being commemorated in Austria. It may have been overshadowed by the terrible events that followed but it shows the very best of humanity in action.

Click Here , here, here, here and here for my previous Kindertransport related posts.

Fur das Kind - more photos

The Kindertransport memorials at Liverpool Street Station have been the subject of several posts already (click here, and here for two of them).



I was pleased to find a CD of some photos I took in 2003, just after the first Kindertransport memorial, Fur Das Kind was unveiled by Sir Nicholas Winton. I would spend time ujust looking at the items the children brought with them. most poignant were the family photos - in most cases their parents and other siblings were murdered during the Holocaust. It is a shame that Fur Das Kind's design was flwaed. the items are back at teh Imperial War Museum. I wish I knew where the statue of the girl is