Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Zyta Eliahu - February 3, 2008

Do you have any idea how they found out about the Winton trains?

How my parents found out? You know, Winton--his opposite numbers--opposite person in Prague was Bill Barazetti...

Barazetti, yeah.

Have you heard of him?

I have, yes.

And he was--he and maybe some other people--but mainly he was the one that collected the Jewish children into groups and corresponded--was in touch with Winton to get these children--to have the lists arranged and have them arranged into groups and get, get them on the trains. That was Barazetti's job and he was quite uh, he didn't hide his anti-Nazism and he had to go underground eventually and even when he went underground he was still organizing the groups of children to get them to be sent to England. And uh, do you know his story at all?

A little bit.

He came to Israel when we celebrated fifty...fifty-five years of the Kindertransport. We did it '94 in Jerusalem and he came then and with his daughter and we went to Yad Vashem and he was made a Righteous Gentile there and while we were there at the Yad Vashem the person who was in charge of us and taking us around he said, "You know, I have a list of the Winton--of the children that he helped to send to England." And I said, "Can I see the lists?" And he said, "Yes ma'am." I was looking to see and found my name and I found my foster mother's name who had taken me in. Now, every child who came into England had to have a fifty pound guaranty. Somebody had to pay it. And um, I looked and I saw the person who had paid my guaranty was the pastor--the priest in the church in the village where my foster mother lived. He had given the fifty pound guaranty.

In Kent?

In Kent, yes.

Huh.

That was the first time I knew, that was the first time I knew there had to be a fifty pound guaranty. I didn't know. My foster mother--I think she--there was uh, I think there was in Maidstone or in England in general what they called a Czech refugee fund. I think she was in contact with them. I think they helped with my high school, actually. I remember rightly she told me that they helped with expense.