Русская версияIn August 1939, Meisler and a group of other children boarded a
train at Berlin's Friedrichstrasse that was bound for England.
Meisler, whose parents were Jewish, had arrived in Berlin from the
German port of Danzig (today Gdansk).
He remembers his aunt Adele
waiting for him on the station platform to give him a hug and hand
him a few bananas -- a luxury in those years.
A few hours later the youngsters, most of them between five and 17,
continued their journey to the Dutch coast to catch a ship bound
for Harwich in England and then a train to London's Liverpool
Street station.
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Kristallnacht in 1938 was a nicht of terror against Jews
In London, Meisler's grandmother and two aunts who had fled Germany
in the mid-1930s were waiting to greet him at the station.
"I was lucky and was not alone," Meisler, now 81, said recently in
an interview with DPA news agency.
Many Jews sought refuge in vain
The so-called "Kindertransporte" (child transports) to England
began in late 1938 after "Kristallnacht" in Germany left Jewish-run
shops smashed and 267 synagogues ransacked and set ablaze in the
notorious Nov. 9 night of Nazi terror.
Terrified by the sudden brutal turn of events, vast numbers of Jews
desperately sought a country to move to, only to find that entry
doors had been slammed on them in many cases.
Even the US made it difficult for Jews, granting entry visas only
to those who could provide solid proof of income and wealth.
Britain was an exception, as far as Jewish children were concerned.
Ultimately, some 10,000 youngsters would arrive in England via the
"Kindertransporte" from Berlin.
Meisler offers sculpture to Berlin
Once in London, Meisler soon got used to the sounds of sirens and
bombing raids when the war began. He learned English rapidly and
would later become a successful architect, helping to design
London's Heathrow Airport and other big projects.
With apartments in London and Tel Aviv, Meisler nowadays shuttles
between the two countries.
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
The Friedrichstrasse subway station is in the heart of Berlin
The architect turned sculptor has been a frequent visitor to Berlin
of late, where he recently offered to donate a major art work to
the city.
The bronze sculpture, six square meters in size, depicts children
in sombre grey attire, with Star of David patches attached to their
clothing. The girls have plaited hair and 1930s-style clothes; the
boys are carrying a few possessions and wearing flat caps.
The group symbolizes the 1.5 million Jewish children for whom there
would be no escape and who would later end up being murdered in the
Nazi concentration camps along with their parents.
Separate from this group, two children peer serenely in another
direction. A boy has a small suitcase, a girl a satchel on her
back.
Both look calm and unafraid. They represent the 10,000 children
able to depart a country that no longer wanted them.
Memorial statues in London, Vienna
A bronze sculpture of Meisler's is already on display at the
Liverpool Street underground station in London. Inaugurated by
Britain's Prince Charles in 2006 it shows five Jewish youngsters
with suitcases on rail tracks against a station background.
In March this year, a second work of Meisler's devoted to the
war-time rescue of Jewish children was installed -- this time at
Vienna's Westbahnhof. It depicts a young boy, lost in his thoughts,
sitting on a brown suitcase.
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Meisler lives in England and Israel
In Berlin, the city's central Mitte district authorities were
delighted to accept Meisler's more recent "remembrance" sculpture,
even agreeing a hand-over date with him and the spot where it is to
be installed at the Friedrichstrasse station.
But Berlin government cultural officials were less enamored and
initially rejected it. They found the design somewhat bland, more
in keeping with a school outing than a dramatic war-time
evacuation.
Berlin
finally approves statue
Mitte district officials, however, have decided to ignore such
official misgivings about the work. On Nov. 30 -- 70 years to the
day when the first "Kindertransporte" to England began, it will be
inaugurated.
Three days after Meisler left Germany for England, his parents were
arrested by the Gestapo and later murdered at Auschwitz.
Although he has a lot to do with abstract art, Meisler insists that
real life-size figures were needed for his latest work. People
using the Friedrichstrasse station had to be able to identify with
the sculpture, he said.
(Deutsche Welle)
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