大象传媒

My Jewish Sister

In Spring 1939, we were living in Queens Drive Liverpool but my father had a business in London so used to commute between the two cities. He received a visit from an Austrian Jewess who needed help in getting her younger sister out of Vienna and away from the Nazis. The remaining members of the family had already got out but the younger sister did not have the correct visa, because she was under 21. The lady explained that her sister would need a sponsor to guarantee that they would find accommodation and finance her sister until she could earn her own living. Her own family had lost everything to the Nazis and didn't have the means to get her into the country themselves.

The lady was very desperate and my father being a very kind man agreed to this and it was arranged that the girl would come to England and live with us until she learnt English and could fend for herself.

I met Rose Koningsburg for the first time when my father brought her up to Liverpool to stay with us. She looked frightened and a bit bewildered by all the fuss and people talking in a language she couldn't understand. It was agreed that she would share my double bed and she soon settled in with us as part of the family. Rose learnt English very quickly and we became great friends. She told me that she thought she was coming to England to be a servant to us and was pleasantly surprised to be treated as one of the family. Perhaps my father had to tell the authorities that she was a servant or something to get her alllowed into the country but I am only guessing?

Over the years we became like sisters and she looked upon our family as her family despite the fact that her blood family now lived in London. In time she got a job with my father as an interpreter and used to communicate between London and Liverpool. At one time, she was not allowed to do this because she was considered an enemy alien and had travel restrictions imposed on her but this didn't last too long. Her natural father was also interned on the Isle of Man for a while but was released once he had proven he was not a spy or working for the Nazis.

I got married in October 1939 and Rose was one of my bridesmaids. After the war, her family decided to go to the United States because they would be granted American citizenship quite quickly so Rose decided to go with them. As she left she said "I will never forget what you did for me" and she hasn't. She still lives in the States to this day and we are still in touch and remanin goood friends or sisters if you like.

I suppose my father saved her from the Nazis and probably concentration camp but I don't think he even considered the fact that she was Jewish when asked to help: she was just another human being in need.

David Camp

My fiance David was a member of the TA when war broke out and he was called up right away to join 68 Medium Regiment Royal Artillery. He was first stationed at Bolesworth Castle in Cheshire. Despite some misgivings from my parents because of the war, we decided to get married. We tied the knot on October 21st 1939.

David and his Regiment were eventually sent to High Wycombe in preparation to go to France but after Dunkirk everything was changed. In September 1940 the Regiment was sent to fight in Eritrea and eventually Egypt. He fought in the desert with the regiment but had applied to join the intelligence corps when he was taken prisoner near Tobruk. I received a telegram to say that he was missing and it was quite a while before I knew he had been taken prisoner. After finding this out, I immediately contacted the Red Cross to find out how to write to him and was given details. When David eventually came home after the war, he told me that my first letter had taken two years to reach him simply because of the confusion caused by his surname of Camp. I presume the Germans or Italians mistook the name Camp for prisoner of war camp. Funny years later but not at the time!

David was held in a prisoner of war camp in Italy but managed to escape and was on the run for six months. He thought very highly of the Italian civilians who helped him and learnt to speak Italian quite well. Of course he was recaptured and then transferred to the notorious Stammlager 4B in Germany.

David worked in the camp office as he had problems with his feet, which resulted in a pension after the war. We used to send prisoners what we could in those days and on one occasion I got my family to donate what they could so that I could make him a nice big cake. I put the cake in a large metal biscuit tin along with some treats for him and his mates. Unfortunately I also put a bar of soap in the tin and when it arrived, the soap had tainted the cake and it was inedible. They were not amused according to th letter I received from him.

David was eventually liberated and was on his way home. We were informed he would be on a certain train into Liverpool Lime Street station quite early in the morning. I got up early and was making myself pretty to go and meet him when the doorbell rang. I was shocked to find Davd standing on the doorstep having got an earlier train. He kissed me and then ran upstairs shouting, " where's that boy?" He was talking about our son who was born in July 1940 but who he had never seen. The rest as they say is history!

'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.