A photograph from 1939. A young man is being carried out. Why? Where? What happened? Let’s reconstruct his story using various documents and write a newspaper article. Give the man his identity and think about the experience of a refugee during the time of Nazism.
A refugee at Croydon Airport near London, 31 March 1939. Source: The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide in London
My father was an important businessman, and after the Germans’ arrival, he was advised not to stay at home, because the Germans may look for him. [...] So he decided to leave immediately. […] As it was Friday [the eve of Sabbath, during which devout Jews may not travel], we had to go on foot, we were orthodox.
The only things my father took with him were a tallit and tefillin [a prayer shawl and straps]. That was all that was left of the property of the rich, prosperous, and respected businessman. We decided to go to Bohumín, where my mother’s brother, Jakob Bronner, lived. […] from Bohumín we continued to my father’s birthplace, Auschwitz.
When the Germans marched into Czechoslovakia, my brother Oskar, ten years older than me, was on a business trip in Poland. He worked for our textile company, travelled in the country and sold our products. […] As soon as German soldiers entered Ostrava, we called him and told him not to come back. Oskar had enough money and so he spoke with a few friends and organized a plane that they flew in from Warsaw to London. Unfortunately they were denied a permit to enter. […] So my brother and his friends decided to apply for refugee status, but the British did not want to accept it and decided to send them back to Poland. There were ten Czech Jewish refugees, ten young men from Czechoslovakia. My brother was young but very resourceful, and he played a crucial role in eventually making it so that the ten refugees could stay. When they were to board the plane at the airport to be returned, my brother suddenly caused a big ruckus. He screamed and shouted, lay down on the floor, kicked around himself and refused to get up. He told us about it later. There were several reporters who photographed him.
[…] The Danish pilot fortunately refused to take off. When he saw the commotion, he refused to take these desperate people aboard. It was the only plane from London to Warsaw. Again, they had mazel [they were lucky]. So the ten men awaited their destiny in jail while the British were making a decision about their future. Then there was an article published on the front page of the Daily Mail about the event, along with the picture of my brother being carried back into the plane. […] It caused a big outrage. […] In the end, all ten of them were released, and after a few days they got a permit to stay in England.
The memories were compiled from interviews with Norbert Goldberg (recorded by David Lawson, edited by Lukáš Přibyl). Source: The Jewish Museum in Prague
It is really sad that you were left there only after such difficulties and such a comedy, but still I had to laugh heartily after reading your description and seeing the enclosed pictures. In any case you tried very much and you have become a heavyweight, Max thinks that on that basis you should go to Hollywood [!] After all even Frida sent us a similar clip from a French newspaper, where you’re being carried out.
A letter to Oskar Goldberg from his family in the Protectorate, 9 May 1939. Source: The Jewish Museum in Prague
Source: The Daily Mail, 31 March 1939
From our London correspondents London, Friday.
The adventure of eleven refugees of Czech nationality, who reached Croydon on Wednesday, were detained there, and were to be returned by ship to Denmark yesterday, had a happy ending. The Jewish Aid Committee for refugees from Germany, which had not accepted responsibility for refugees from Czechoslovakia until recently, decided today to provide the necessary guarantees for them as an exceptional measure so that they could be accepted into the country.
We are learning from the authorities that this group arrived from Krakow in Poland in a rented plane, with a stopover in Copenhagen. […]
Local border guards [in Croydon] consulted the Ministry of the Interior, which turned to refugee committees, who did not know anything about this group and were not ready to sponsor them. As a result, these eleven people were detained and they were to be sent back by ship to Copenhagen.
It may be assumed that this group made a desperate attempt to enter our country due to the new visa system for Czechs arriving in England, which should take effect on 1 April and which was announced in January. […]
There are lots of stories circulating about the number of refugees returned during this week. I have acquired these numbers. The total number of foreigners of all categories arriving in Croydon on Wednesday was 257, of which 118 were Germans and 45 were Czechs. 10 were rejected, all of them Czechs. 241 foreigners landed in Croydon yesterday, of whom 82 were Germans and 81 were Czechs. 20 Czechs were rejected entry.
Source: Manchester Guardian, 1 April 1939 (translated by Michal Frankl)
The project was funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic