Prince Charles To Join Kinder Celebration

by Justin Cohen - Thursday 16th October 2008


Prince Charles will next month join hundreds of Kindertransport evacuees at a major London celebration marking the 70th anniversary of parliament's decision to admit 10,000 children fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe.

Three years after hosting a Clarence House reception for some of the refugees who fled to Britain before the outbreak of the Second World War, the heir to the throne will be among a host of dignitaries at the 23 November gathering - probably the last major event bringing together so many Kinder from around the world.

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Guests will hear from among others Lord Attenborough, Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks and keynote speaker. Sir Martin Gilbert, who will recall a recent conversation with Lady Thatcher about the Jewish girl to whom she and her family gave a home in 1939.

Representing the government, Tony McNulty MP will also be among those descending on JFS, which was instrumental in helping to evacuate many of the Kinder from London where they arrived to Ely.

A Clarence House spokesman told the Jewish News: "The Prince of Wales is delighted to be invited to meet the remaining kinder and their families. The event recognises an important and noble point in British history."

Part of a four-day reunion of Kindertransport evacuees, Sunday's event will also feature a service of Remembrance, a Klezmer concert and a panel discussion chaired by Edwina Currie and featuring among others Lady Jakobovits and Reunion of the Kindertransport founder Bertha Leverton.

Erich Reich, chairman of the Association of Jewish Refugee's Kindertransport committee, said: "We are celebrating one of the single most important decisions ever taken by the British government. Thanks to its intervention some 10,000 children, myself included, were saved from certain death.

"We believe this occasion will prove to be an exceptional celebration in the company of some of those young children who arrived on these shores so many years ago."

The reunion - which follows previous such gatherings in 1988 and 1999 - will also include several visits in the lead-up to the centrepiece celebration including to the Imperial War Museum and the Kindertransport monument at Liverpool Street Station.

- If you are interested in attending the event, call the AJR for more information on 020 8385 3070.

The celebrity group are booking agents who provide speakers for a variety of functions. For more information visit http://www.celebrity.co.uk.

Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.

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