adopted the name Henry Foner and almost entirely lost his mother tongue within months.
In the postcards, Max wrote about Henry’s toys and his hopes for his son’s well-being. The postcards also reflect Max’s growing fear that he might never see Henry again. In December 1942, Max Lichtwitz was deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
Henry Foner, now 90 years old, lives in Jerusalem.
Sehnsucht: The story of Gerda Stein
“At exactly twelve o’clock midday, we will all look at the sun at the same time from Prague, London, and Lemberg, and hope that one day we can be together, hand in hand.”
Gerda received this message from her father for her birthday. He sent her a detailed letter with a colorful, hand-drawn illustration of herself, her father, and her mother, each in different countries, all looking at a bright yellow sun. In another letter, her mother wrote her a poem with miniature illustrations next to its verses, bringing her happiness and hope.
Gerda fled on a Kindertransport from Prague to England in March 1939. She was 11 years old.
She lived with Trevor Chadwick, a Kindertransport organizer who rescued many other children from former Czechoslovakia. The letters she received, including a colorful postcard, reflected her parents’ deep longing for her.
Despite their efforts to reunite with their daughter, Arnold and Erna Stein could not bring their family back together. Neither of them survived the Holocaust.
Gerda died in 2021. She was a well-known poet.
Ungewissheit: The story of Hannah Kuhn
In 2023, Ann Kirk sat with Ruth Ur in her London home, looking at a photograph of herself from 1934. She was six years old in the picture.
Born in 1928 as Hannah Kuhn, she fled from Germany to England on a Kindertransport, shortly before the start of the war, as Nazi persecution of Jewish communities intensified. Her parents, Herta and Franz Kuhn, remained behind. In London, Hannah was taken in by two Jewish sisters and began a new life as Ann.
Ann’s parents learned about her childhood through letters exchanged with her foster mothers during the war. As the war progressed, the letters became sparse, often arriving after months of silence. Eventually, they were reduced to brief and rare messages relayed through the British and German Red Cross.
In February 1943, Ann received one final telegram from her father, informing her about her mother’s deportation and expressing his hope to reunite with his family after the war. A few weeks later, he too was deported. Both Franz and Herta Kuhn were murdered at Auschwitz.
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Ilse's Czech passport issued on January 18, 1939.