Harrogate

Harrogate

Holocaust Survivors

Susan Heinemann Berman

Kindness of Strangers

"They had a very strong faith."

"Eventually a group of compassionate Jewish citizens from the town of Harrogate, which is in the northeast corner of England came, and they were willing to take 25-30 young Jewish girls-- religious girls-- back to their community with them. And so, because they wanted to stay together, and they had a very strong faith, [my mother and my aunt] decided that these were the people that they would put their trust in.

They lived in a home that was like an orphanage. They had a house mother, and she was quite strict. She made sure that the girls took care of themselves in their rooms, and so forth, but she wasn’t ugly about it. And they went to synagogue on Saturdays. And eventually-- sometimes, because they dressed alike, and they were so cute, people would invite them back to their homes for Shabbas meals, and sometimes they even got to go away. One time my mother said that during the week of Passover, they were off from school. And that’s when the dietary laws are even stricter than normal. They’re not allowed to eat bread, or anything with any yeast or anything in them. There was a boarding house that was outside of Harrogate that was quite beautiful and well-preserved. And they invited the girls to be their guests for a week. And they went there, and they had a wonderful time. I believe they may have been the only children."