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Wednesday 18th September – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: Commemorating the 85th Anniversary of the Czechoslovak Kindertransport – SAVE THE DATE and REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

18 September 2024 

at the Czech and Slovak Embassies, London

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: Commemorating the 85th Anniversary of the Czechoslovak Kindertransport

The Czech and Slovak Embassies are hosting an educational and social gathering to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Czechoslovak Kindertransport on 18 September 2024.  

This gathering is an opportunity for Czech and Slovak Kinder, descendants, researchers, and the general public to come together and hear about the movement of unaccompanied children in Czechoslovakia to Britain in 1939. Descendants will be able to share their stories, experiences and ask questions. 

The informative part of the program will run from at 1pm to 4:30pm. Come and learn the fascinating details about the CZ-SK Kindertransport, new memorials, and related present-day response to the refugee crisis. This will be followed in the evening by a piano concert, by descendants of Kindertransportee Jiri Frank Lechner, in memory of the parents who let their children go, and reception, from 5:30pm to around 8pm, allowing plenty of time to socialise. 

The first part is open to the general public; all welcome. To receive an invitation to the afternoon and evening program, please register your interest. There are limited places. No entry fee.

To register your interest, please go to: https://Czech-kt85.eventbrite.co.uk

Invitations will be sent out from the Embassy directly to the registered individuals.

If you have any questions, please email: CZSK.KT85@gmail.com

Afternoon Program for General Public (subject to change)

  • Presentations
    • Nicholas Winton Foundation: purposes and website
    • The Czechoslovak Kindertransport and the Czech Refugee Trust Fund
    • Czech and Slovak Kindertransport Memorials and Public Places
    • Memorial to Barbara Winton and UK Responsive Refugee Efforts
  • Panel Discussions
    • Czechoslovak Kindertransport Organizers and Rescuers
    • Response to the Czech Kindertransport in the Czech and Slovak Republics
    • Second Generation: Letters, Photos, Stolperstein and Plenary Discussion

Supporting Organising Committee: Anita H. Grosz (Second Generation Network), Steve Watson and Laurence Watson (the Nicholas Winton Foundation), Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, Robin Young.  

We are supporting the Embassies in their efforts to provide a memorable and meaningful day to all. 

Best wishes and looking forward to seeing you on the 18th.  

Tuesday 8th November – Discussion Group: Commissioning and Laying Stolpersteine and Other Family Memorials: Impact on Family Understanding

The November Discussion Group will be introduced by Elaine Sinclair, a long-standing member of the Network, who has been involved in commissioning Stolpersteine for family members. The process of commissioning and laying family memorials in the places where they lived before WWII can result in research in local archives by a researcher who comes to know your family very well, as well as contact with neighbours and those currently living there. It might also lead to invitations to visit the inside of your family’s home or meeting people who knew your family or were told about them by their parents. This discussion group will focus on the kinds of unexpected outcomes of laying family memorials and how they have affected your understanding of your family’s experiences before and during WWII. The discussion group meetings are for members of the Second and Third Generations. Numbers are limited and Network members will be given priority.
A Zoom link will be provided. Start time: 6.20pm for 6.30pm GMT to give everyone time to set up and check their Zoom connection. If you would like to attend please email: davidwirth@secondgeneration.org.uk

Thursday 27th October – Researching relatives who were interned on the Isle of Man

Introduced by Network Committee Member, Anita Grosz, who has recently visited the Isle of Man to learn about the island’s internment history, author Simon Parkin will provide an in-depth history of the internment programme, talking about his new book The Island of Extraordinary Captives and providing tips for Members on how to research their own relatives who were interned on the Isle of Man; Simon has created a comprehensive list of internees. A chance for all those whose relatives were interned on the Isle of Man to ask questions and share their own experiences and research. Full details and an Eventbrite link will follow.

Wednesday 19th October – Second Generation Network AGM 

The AGM will include the presentation of the Annual Accounts, Election of Members of the Second Generation Network Committee and an open mic session led by David Clark. If you would like to participate in the open mic session, please email davidclark@secondgeneration.org.uk. The AGM is for Network members only and will be via Zoom at 6.30pm BST.
If you would like to attend and receive a Zoom link, please email: davidwirth@secondgeneration.org.uk 

Tuesday 11th February 2020 – The Forgotten Exiles – Jewish Refugee Domestics in Britain, 1938 – 1945

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Although over twice as many refugees from Nazism came to Britain on so-called Domestic Visas than via the Kindertransports, this subject has received far less attention from researchers and the media. Dr Jennifer Craig-Norton will give a fascinating talk about her research into this neglected subject. It will also be a chance for members of the First, Second and Third Generations to share their own experiences, positive and negative, of this scheme and those of their relatives. Free places will be bookable in due course via the Winer Holocaust Library website.

The Wiener Holocaust Library
29 Russell Square
London WC1B 5DP 
6.15pm for 6.30pm–8.30pm