大象传媒

We lived in Meole village, Shrewsbury during the war and along with many other families took in evacuees from the cities. One time when we had no-one staying, the couple responsible for boarding evacuees came to us and said they were desperate to find accommodation for a 19 year-old Austrian Jewish girl as there wasn't a vacancy anywhere. (We discovered later that there was room but people were maybe unwilling to help.)

Herta Weiss, our guest, was from Vienna. She was a talented musician and well-educated and her mother had sold up everything to pay for Herta's passage to safety, but couldn't escape herself. As an alien, Herta had to register at the Police Station in Swan Hill every week. She had a job working in a factory in town, just behind Tanners, the wine merchants, and we would often go and meet her from work and walk home together.

Her brother was living in another part of England and she also corresponded regularly with her mother in Austria. One dreadful day though, Herta received back one of her letters to her mother. It was returned unopened and marked - "travelled to an unknown destination...."

My mother became Herta's mother and Betsy and I her sisters - a life-long loving friendship. Although Herta died several years ago, we are still in touch with her husband and children and he has become like an older brother to us.

(This story was submitted to the site by Pat Yates a volunteer from Age Concern, Shropshire with Ivy's full permission & understanding of the site's terms & conditions.)

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