When you’re a framer, you often have the great fortune to see some amazing and wonderful things clients bring in.
Recently, an elderly gentleman brought in an old school photo. In the photo, he is a young boy among 30 or so other children and their teacher standing in the schoolyard. We get lots of old photos and we love to see them. What is unique about this photo is that it was taken in Germany in the 1930’s.
What is unique about the school is that it was a segregated school for Jewish children located on the grounds of what was then called an insane asylum. When the Nazis came to power, all the Jewish children in the town were sent there.
Walter, the second child from the right on the third row, was one of very few of these children to survive the Holocaust. He survived because his mother had learned about the “Kindertransport” program and sent her child to safety. This was a program that transported and sheltered about 10,000 Jewish children in England throughout the war. Walter’s mother had elderly parents in Germany she couldn’t bear to leave so in 1939, she kissed her child goodbye and put him on a train bound for Holland. From there, he took a ferry to England where he lived in a series of hostels and homes for children throughout the war. His mother died in the gas chambers of Poland in 1942. After the war, he emigrated to New York City to be with an aunt. One of his schoolmates searched for all of the children in the photo and sent him a copy.
We were honored to meet Walter, hear his story and frame his photo. We love what we do.
