The Boys, Committee for the Care of Children from Camps

Narrative

The Committee for the Care of Children from Camps was a sub-committee of the Jewish Refugees Committee, funded by grants made by the Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief.
The Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief was founded by Anthony de Rothschild, Leonard G. Montefiore and Otto Schiff.in 1933, in response to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on a political platform of anti-Semitism.
The Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief started out as the Central British Fund for German Jewry, then became part of the new Council for German Jewry in 1936 along with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the American United Palestine Appeal.
In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, the fund changed its name to the Central Council for Jewish Refugees,
In 1944, the name changed again to the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation.
After many years as the Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief, the organization is now known as World Jewish Relief.

Narrative

Leonard Montefiore organized a campaign to bring young survivors to Britain.
In June, 1945, the British Home Office approved a plan to transport 1,000 orphans to Britain for recuperation before their resettlement elsewhere.
The program was paid funded by the Care of Children from Concentration Camps, headquartered at the Bloomsbury House, and chaired by Leonard Montefiore.

Narrative

On August 14, 1945, the first group of 300 orphans was brought from Theresienstadt to Prague, and then flown to England on Lancaster bombers.
In England the children were housed at a hostel in Windermere, where they received religious and secular instruction and medical treatment.

Narrative

In November, 1945, the second group of orphans arrived in Southampton, followed by groups in February and March 1946.

Narrative

In April, 1946, he final group of orphans left Prague.
They stayed in Taverny, France, for six weeks before coming to England in June.
In all, 732 children were brought to England; approximately half settled permanently in England, while the rest moved to Israel, the United States and Canada.
On June 6, 1946, the members of the orphans transport established the Primrose Jewish Youth Club, to maintain their social network, which had become a substitute for the families they had lost.

References

  1. Berger, Felix
  2. Gastfreund Gast, Polek Paul ben Shlomo (Szlama)
  3. Herszberg, Jerry