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The Windermere Children - How the JC reported on the rehabilitation of hundreds of child victims of the Nazis

The new BBC drama tells the story of what happened to young Jews brought to the Lake District after the war. The JC was there.

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"There can be no doubt that for the most part the ghastly ordeal through which they have passed has made most of them real problem children," the JC noted in August 17 1945 edition about hundreds of child survivors of the Nazi camps who had been brought to Britain to be rehabilitated.

A total of 250 boys and 50 girls, the youngest just three but most of them 15 or over, were brought to the Calgarth estate near Lake Windermere. The BBC's The Windermere Children, broadcast on Monday, tells their story.

The JC even makes a brief cameo when a teacher holds up a copy to teach the class of boys the word "newspaper". But this was not all the children saw of the paper.

The August 31 edition reported about the "Terezin Kiddies at Windermere", with a sub-headline that announced - with what feels like remarkable optimism after you read the rest of the report - "Satisfactory Signs of Recuperation".

The unnamed reporter quickly found themselves "surrounded" by children spoke with them in Yiddish.

Most had been in multiple camps before ending up in Theresienstadt. The correspondent noted the tattoos most had "on their little arms".

One girl from Lodz in Poland described how her parents, sister and two brothers were "burned to death by the Nazis in a place called Drublink". She was beaten and bludgeoned with a horse whip and made to do heavy labour.

She was put in a cattle truck along with 300 girls and transported to another camp. Many died and the girl recalled one who was shot for bending over to pick up a potato.

One boy said he was one of 800 who set off on a death march to Theresienstadt. Only 33 survived. Another said his mother had starved at a camp in Poland while being forced to work from 5am to 7pm. He only survived because he was found to be fit to work at Auschwitz. Those who were not were killed.

"There was a pitiful agonising look about this boy's expression which I shall never forget," our correspondent wrote.

They then went on to speak to the warden Dr Oscar Friedmann - played in the show by German actor Thomas Kretschmann - who describedhow some of the children were so traumatised they would not take food for three days.

He recounted how one boy told him: "Why have I been spared? I am nearly the youngest of my family and I am nobody. I have had enough of life."

The article goes on to praise their "passion for learning" and how Dr Friedmann and his staff taught Hebrew, English, history, arithmetic, geography and elementary science as well as  lectures on subjects such as the "geography of Palestine and Zionism".

The appetite for religion appeared to be great at the camp, and "25 to 30" boys showed "extraordinary ability for religious knowledge" and were keen to study at yeshivot and to become rabbis and teachers. Many had somehow kept hold of Hebrew books throughout their time in the camps.

A total of 150 kippot were delivered by the Chief Rabbi's Religious Emergency Council and "there was such a rush for them that they were all disposed of in a few minutes".

At Windermere, a weekly Oneg Shabbat - a Friday night gathering to emphasise the joy of observing the Sabbath - was held. The JC relayed to its readers an urgent need for mezuzot and books. Many of the children wanted to go to Palestine "as soon as possible".

"I cannot too highly praise of those in charge under Mr Friedmann," the JC's reporter wrote. "He handles the children with sympathy and understanding and is surrounded by a staff which has done wonders."

The Windermere Children is available on BBC iPlayer

Every edition of the JC, dating back to 1841, is available in our archive

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