Bishop’s boys and girls taking History at either GCSE or A Level can see and appreciate that History is real – its not just something for textbooks and films, and its not just something that happens to other people. History is before us, and the lessons of History are there for us all to read and learn from, to shock us from our complacency and warn us of what can happen if we take our freedoms for granted.
Walter Kammerling was born in 1923 in Vienna. He was 14 when Nazi Germany occupied Austria. This was known as the Anschluss.
Walter was witness to the events of 9/10 November, when across Germany and Austria Jewish synagogues, shops, businesses and homes were attacked and destroyed. Hundreds of Jewish men were arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp and 94 Jews were murdered. This event has become known as Kristallnacht.
Walter’s parents decided to send him to Britain on the Kindertransport. The age limit for Kindertransport was 16, and Walter was 15. His sisters being 17 and 18 could not join him. The eldest managed to get a domestic permit where the lower age limit was 18. She arrived in Britain on 4th July 1939. The younger sister, however, was too old for the Kindertransport and too young to get a domestic work permit. She had to stay in Vienna and was sent to Theresienstadt and subsequently to Auschwitz.
Walter’s father was sent to Auschwitz on 29th September 1944 and his mother and sister on 23rd October 1944. This was the penultimate transport to Auschwitz, just 3 months before Auschwitz was liberated.
Walter arrived at Dovercourt, a summer holiday camp which was not used at that time of year. He was there until February 1939 when he was sent to a farm in Northern Ireland.
Walter worked on the farm for 3 years. Walter had to report to the police, but as farming was a ‘reserved occupation’ (important for the war effort) he was not interned as other ‘enemy aliens’ were.
Walter joined the British Army in March 1944. Whilst on embarkation leave, Walter married Herta, who also came from Vienna on a Kindertransport, but they only met in London in 1942. Walter was sent to Belgium and then Holland in December 1944.
After the war, Walter discovered that his parents and sister had been sent from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz where they were murdered. Walter and Herta returned to Austria in 1946 and had two sons. They returned to Britain in 1957. Walter also had a connection to BWS – is brother in law was a student here.
Walter’s testimony can also be found in the following books:
- I came alone: The stories of the Kindertransport, by Bertha Leverton
- Emet: a collection of member’s true life stories, published by Bournemouth Reform Synagogue
Walter’s testimony can also be found in the third episode of the BBC Documentary Nazis: A Warning From History
