At the end of World War II, Britain took in 732 Jewish orphans who had been found in concentration camps and helped them to find homes. They remained closely connected to one another long after. Jenni Frazer tells their story:
Bela Rosenthal was three years old when she came to Britain in August 1945. She spoke no English and even her German was limited to a few words. . . . Born in Berlin, Bela was the youngest of six Jewish orphans liberated from the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia in April 1945. . . .
In June 1945, the six were taken to houses outside Prague, while the Red Cross searched to see if there were still any surviving relations of the children. When none were found, on August 15, 1945 Bela became one of 301 children aboard a Lancaster bomber, bound for England.
Nine flights full of Jewish orphans left that day, making Bela part of an exclusive club—“the Boys”—known as such because . . . just 80 of them were girls. . . . In 1963 the Boys . . . established the 45 Aid Society, which has since raised thousands for other children’s charities.
Read more on Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/12122470/What-happened-to-the-Jewish-orphans-who-were-brought-to-Britain-in-1945.html