As time marches forward, it is our task to remember and learn about the Shoah; the stories of those that were lost as well as the those who survived. During 1938 and 1939, the British government organized a series of “Kindertransport” to rescue and relocate over 10,000 Jewish refugee children up to the age of 17 into England. Kindertransport children are child Holocaust survivors and an important part of Holocaust History. They were saved from the horrors of the death camps however they were uprooted from their families and friends, separated from their parents and transported to different countries and cultures where they faced a mixture of kindness, indifference, occasional exploitation and the selflessness of ordinary people faced with needy children.
On Sunday morning November 17, 2024 at 9:30am the Temple Torat Emet Men’s Club of Boynton Beach, Florida will be hosting a special LIVE & In-Person Men’s Club Breakfast meeting featuring a very special guest speaker, Kindertransport survivor Leo Frydman. For more information or to RSVP and register for this exciting event, please email RichNebb@Gmail.com.
Yasher Koach and Kol HaKavod to the Temple Torat Emet Men’s Club for organizing this important breakfast program. Learn more about the Temple Torat Emet Men’s Club at https://templetoratemet.org/mens-club/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TTEMC.
Leo Frydman is a Kindertransport survivor. He was 6-1/2 years old when he left Munich in June 1939 and was lucky to get out with his older brothers and younger sister, very unusual for so many children to get out together, particularly when the charge was 50 pounds per child (the equivalent of about $3,500 per child in today’s money, a huge sum given the fact that their parents had been stripped of their professions and their occupations) to assure the British government that they would not become burdens on the government or the families who were caring for them. His parents were able to leave for Belgium but when the Nazis conquered Belgium, his parents were never heard from after 1942 and he does not know which camp they perished in. Leo was separated from his siblings for a while before the older non-Jewish couple caring for his younger sister decided they could care for him as well. (Initially they refused to do so, but when they realized that the little girl was so easy to care for, they agreed to take him in too.) During the Nazi bombing, he and many others were evacuated to the English countryside. When he turned 10, he was placed in a Jewish hostel in order to have a Bar Mitzvah. After the war, his sister emigrated to Israel while he and his brothers left for America.
The Kindertransport Association maintains an active SPEAKERS BUREAU comprised of Kindertransport survivors, their adult children (KT2s) and grandchildren (KT3s) who are able to speak in person or remotely via Zoom. For more information about the Kindertransport Association or to request a speaker for your Men’s Club, Brotherhood or Synagogue, please contact Kindertransport Speaker Bureau Chair Alan Peizer at speaker@kindertransport.org or visit https://kindertransport.org/education/request-a-speaker/.
This message is brought to you by the Florida Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs. We serve the needs of affiliated Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods throughout the State of Florida. Learn more about the FJMC Florida Region and our growing network of Jewish Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods at: www.floridaregionfjmc.org and please visit & LIKE our Facebook Group at: www.facebook.com/FloridaRegionFJMC.
The FJMC is a confederation of over 200 Jewish Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods representing over 20,000 members across the United States, Canada, Latin America, and beyond. Learn how YOUR Jewish Men’s Club or Brotherhood can affiliate with the FJMC at: https://fjmc.org/for-clubs/affiliating-with-the-fjmc/.