WJR KeySupporter Summer 2025-v3.3 - Flipbook - Page 11
REBUILDING LIVES
Ilse’s story
Ilse Cranmer was just twelve years old when, in 1939,
amid the rise of Nazi persecution, she was sent to
England as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation.
“To my shame, I was not at all worried about travelling
to England because I had been told that my new family
had children and a dog,” Ilse recalled.
As a young girl, Ilse witnessed the Nazis marching
through her hometown of Vienna and she vividly
remembers the signs declaring “Jews Out.”
Her father, Hugo, promised they would reunite in
America soon. This promise was tragically unful昀椀lled,
however, as both he and her mother, Theresia, perished
in the Holocaust. Now 98, this dark period of her life
remains etched in her memory.
Ilse arrived in England on 23 June 1939, unsure of what
awaited her, “I had not one word of English,” she said,
yet her adoptive family welcomed her with open arms,
providing not just shelter but also love and support. “They
adopted me like a child,” she recalled, describing how
they enrolled her at a local school, where she quickly
adapted and learned the language.
Recently, our team at World Jewish Relief had the
profound honour of revealing something special to Ilse
and her family: her original case 昀椀le from 1939, which
contained information about her foster family, her
schooling, and her work life up until her marriage.
In Ilse’s words, “I am extremely grateful to have received
my case 昀椀le from World Jewish Relief so quickly, and
from so many years ago. My daughter read it to me as
I am partially sighted. Some of the things I knew about,
and lots I did not. The 昀椀les will be kept safely as historic
family records, and I hope treasured for the years to
come by my next generation.”
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