Holocaust Symposium at West Chester

Meeting a Holocaust survivor will probably be on of the highlights of the year for me...few people are able to do that anymore, since most survivors with any recollections are in their late 70s or older.

The survivor I met was Anne Fox, at 12 she was sent from her parents in Germany to "foster" families in England on the KinderTransport. Anne's brother was already living in England on a student visa before the Jews were being descriminated against in Germany. Her father was shot in the elbow during the first World War, and had to be amputated, when he got home he began working in a bank. When the Nazis started to descriminate against the Jews, one of the first things they did was to forbid Jews from having service jobs, like in banks, so her father was out of a job. Their family was not able to move because her father was not wanted in other countries, due to his amputated arm making it hard for him to work. Anne's best friend growing up, Doreen, was a Christian, and before Anne went to England, Doreen joined the Hitler Youth. Doreen said she couldn't be friends with Anne in public anymore, but would secretly visit her sometimes. It was hard for Anne to go to public school after a while since she was Jewish, so she began going to Hebrew school. After The Night of Broken Glass, it was not safe for Anne to travel to Hebrew school, and she had to stay at home. In early December (1938 I think) she took the KinderTrain to Holland, where she got on a ferry to go to England. She bounced from home to home for a while when she was in England then settled at a farm with a nice family. She graduated from high school and got a job at a library where she met her husband, an American soldier. They got married in England and moved back to the US and lived with his mom and sister.

The neatest part about her story was at the end when she said her friend Doreen contacted her, and now they speak on the phone every other week!