In March 1939, Inge Ball (formerly Fuss), a young Jewish girl, came to England as a refugee from Germany to escape the Nazi oppression. She was one of six 'kindertransport'  children who came to live at Barnardo's. It was a move that saved her life.

I believe there were 250 children boys and girls between the ages of five and I 7 years who came to Britain at the beginning of the Second World War.

I was 12 years old at the time and remember it well. Barnardo's took six girls into The Girls' Village Home at Barkingside I was one of them. Several boys went to Beacon School, Crowborough.

Initially, I was quite excited about coming to Britain. I could write to my parents via family friends in Denmark. My mother wrote me the most wonderful letters. I was very close to her. Once war broke out the letters stopped. I didn't understand the dangers my parents were facing. I certainly didn't realise I would never see my mother again.

At The Village, us 'kindertransport' children were six non-English speakers and must have caused quite a problem in a small school. But with much help and kindness, we acclimatised. Three of the girls didn't stay long and soon moved away. I'm not sure if they went back to their families.

I remember soon after my arrival, there was a geography test in class one day. I wanted to take part, even though I hardly spoke any English. The only word I could write on the paper, in the whole test, was 'Thames'. That was the only geography word I knew!!

I gradually learnt English and when war broke out, we were evacuated, as a school: first to Coggeshall in Essex and then permanently to Ripon to the Bishops Palace - a very posh address indeed!

In 1943 the home changed from being a school to a general home and those of school age attended various schools in Britain.

At 16, my fellow 'kindertransport'  friends were moved on. I later discovered that this was because I was thought the brightest, and so stayed at school, but at the time I felt very lonely. The staff at the home changed around this time too and one of the women in charge was very cruel to me and called me names like ‘bloody German’.

At the end of the war, I discovered that my mother and all her family had perished in Auschwitz. My father, who was hidden by friends in Berlin, survived. My father came over to Britain to see me. By now I was training as a nurse at Lewisham hospital in south London. I was very lonely but had no intention of returning to Germany.

Britain was my home. I can appreciate better now, how hard this must have been for my father. But at the time, I did not feel that close to him. I know he would have liked me to return to Germany with him. I finally went back to Germany in 1963. In the intervening years, I had got married, had three sons and divorced. As so many of my relatives perished in Hitler's concentration camps, it is highly likely that I would have died too, if Barnardo's hadn't taken me in. I am truly grateful for the care I received.

Inge Ball (formerly Fuss)
The Girls Village Home. 1939 to 1940
Bishop's Palace, Ripon. 1940 to 1944

Barnardo Guild Messenger Winter 2003

Inge is pictured 2nd right in the cream beret at Liverpool Street Station.

I hope to able to gain permission to publish the photo.

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