14.1.2014. 18:28 |
Kindertransport
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Primili smo od Stefanie Salzer, predsjednice Svjetske organizacije djece koja su preživjeka Holokaust ( New York) slijedeći prilog:
By Robin Coupland. Reposted with permission from
Talking Beautiful Stuff
When you arrive at Liverpool Street Station in London amid determined commuters and disorientated tourists, something catches your eye. as you head up the stairs past McDonald’s. I find myself in front of a modern statue in bright bronze of a collection of five children. They are standing still and looking around. They don’t seem lost

This is about the Kindertransport. In 1938 and 1939, ten thousand unaccompanied
Jewish children were transported to Britain to escape persecution in their
hometowns in Germany and Austria. These children arrived at Liverpool Street
station to be taken in by British families and foster homes. Only a few were
reunited with their families after World War II.This 2006 commemorative statue
is the work of Frank Mailer and Aria
Oviedo. It is beautiful, precise and poignant. The children are poised and
proud. Their heads are held high. They are determined. They are looking to the
future. They do not carry themselves as victims. Their faces radiate hope. A
greater innocence is underscored by the youngest girl clutching a teddy bear The
young boy maybe brings musical talent with him; he has a violin case by his
side. The tallest girl’s pubescence has been captured to
perfection.

However, each child has a tag
with a number. Behind the group is a short section of railway line. Both tags
and rails serve as disconcerting reminders of what might have been had they not
been brought to Britain. Numbers might have been tattooed on their arms and
railways might have brought them to Auschwitz or Belsen rather than to Liverpool
Street.

Talking Beautiful Stuff is
about the narrative behind any output of the human impulse to create; this
beautiful stuff has narrative by the ton. Once again, We are struck by how
really, really ugly stuff can be the source of inspiration for really, really
beautiful stuff.And if this was not testament
enough to the human folly and cruelty of the 20th century, twenty meters away is
the marbled roll of honor with the names of 900 (yes, 900!) employees of the
Great Eastern Railway who lost their lives in the Great War of 1914 to 1918. I
realize that, had they survived, they might have witnessed the Kindertransport.
I feel tears in my eyes and head for the bustling sanctuary of the London
Underground.
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