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Four Thousand Lives: the rescue of German Jewish men to Britain, 1939 - a talk by Clare Ungerson

ARK, Albion Road, Cliftonville, Margate, Kent, CT9 2HP

  • 15 Sep 2024
  • In person
  • Pre-booking preferred

Complementing the Leave to Land exhibition, this talk by author Clare Ungerson describes how the rescue came about, what life was like for the men in the camp and what residents made of having 4000 German speaking Jews living in a camp in Sandwich.

In 1939, the Central British Fund for German Jewry organised and funded two important rescues of Jews from Greater Germany. The first, the Kindertransports, brought nearly 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children to England. That rescue is now very well known. The second rescue of nearly 4000 German and Austrian Jewish men to an old First World War army camp, known as the Kitchener Camp, on the edge of Sandwich in East Kent, is much less well known. This talk, which complements the Leave to Land exhibition, is by the author of the only history of this rescue of adult men. In this illustrated talk, Clare Ungerson will tell how the rescue came about, what life was like for the men in the camp and what the people of Sandwich made of having 4000 German-speaking Jews living in a camp just across the Toll Bridge and opposite the Stonar Lake.

Professor Emerita Clare Ungerson is the daughter and granddaughter of German Jewish refugees who came to this country shortly before WWII. She first came to East Kent in 1973 when she was appointed lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Kent. She ended her career as Professor of Social Policy at the University of Southampton. In 2005, she returned to East Kent and settled in Sandwich, where she decided to research and write the history of the ‘Kitchener Camp rescue’. Her book "Four Thousand Lives: the rescue of German Jewish men to Britain", was published in hardback in 2014 and in paperback in 2019.

Timings & Tours

Sunday 15 September:
1400-1500

Location & directions

ARK, Albion Road, Cliftonville, Margate, Kent, CT9 2HP

Directions:
ARK is located in a former synagogue on Albion Road in Cliftonville West. Albion Road runs between Godwin Road and Sweyn Road, and is parallel to Northdown Road which is served by the Loop Bus and 8A. There is street parking nearby.
Contact on day:
Jan Ryan

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:
Pre-booking preferred
Booking conditions:
Tickets available via ARK's website
Booking website:
https://www.arkcliftonville.com
Booking opens:
05 Aug 2024 12:00 AM
Booking closes:
14 Sep 2024 12:00 AM

Additional information

Max no of people per tour:
60
Est. tour duration:
1 hour(s)

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