Kindertransport Correspondence: International Red Cross from Walter Herz, United Kingdom, to Marie Herz, Bohemia-Moravia

Authors

Object ID

2012.1.36

Object Name

Letter

Date

6-17-1940

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

Document with Red Cross at top, titled, "War Organisation of the British Red Cross and Order of St. John. Includes typewritten and printed information in English and German.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Red Cross correspondence. An official "War Organisation of the British Red Cross..." inquiry filed by Walter Herz ("Relationship of enquirer to addressee: Son"), a young Czech Jew, sent by his parents to Great Britain prior to WWII. His parents remained in Bohemia-Moravia. Form has official 4-line boxed hand stamped address at top: "Red Cross Message Bureau 22, 37 Sutherland Avenue, Paddington, London W9." Limited message (no more than 25 words) reads in German: "Dear Mommy, Do not worry about me, I am very fine. I have everything I need. Kisses, Walter." Addressed to his mother, Marie Herz, in Bohemia-Moravia. Form has a red double circle of the International Red Cross, Geneva. It was received in Nazi Germany on October 14, 1940 (per the red boxed hand stamp at top). His mother's reply, also in German: "My very dear Walter, Do not worry about me. I am healthy & fine, too. Thousand kisses from your Mama." The form was hand stamped by the International Red Cross in Geneva. Kindertransport (also Refugee Children Movement or RCM) is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of World War II. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany and the occupied territories of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Free City of Danzig. The children were placed in British foster homes, hostels, and farms.

Dimensions

9 x 5 1/2"

Keywords

War Organisation of the British Red Cross, British Red Cross, Order of St. John, Red Cross, Great Britain, Czech, Moravia-Ostrava, London, Geneva, International Red Cross Kindertransport, Walter Herz, Marie Herz

Subcollection

Early, Kindertransport, Personal

Recommended Citation

"Kindertransport Correspondence: International Red Cross from Walter Herz, United Kingdom, to Marie Herz, Bohemia-Moravia" (1940). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2012.1.36.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/700