Vera Gissing - April 22, 2006
Traveling to Liverpool
It's, it's like Nicholas Winton, actually.
Yes, yes. I never thought of it before.
Is it--you're an eleven year child...
Mm-hm.
...and you see this woman. You're all alone in this large place. Do you remember what you felt when, when she came in?
Well, I was shaking at the knees, I tell you, you know, who would come and claim me? And I didn't know any English. All I knew is, was uh, "I have sister. Eva." Uh, "I have hunger." And the third one was, "I need toilet." And uh, you know, I, I mean it was very scary. We went on a train to Liverpool. She left me in the compartment and ran off. And I didn't even know where I was going or what was her name, you know. But any rate--and then she sort of suddenly appeared back with--holding a large coronet of uh, ice cream triumphantly in her hand, you know, for me to have. Now uh, I was, I was very lucky with my family. They didn't try to make a Christian out of me. But they didn't also--they, they weren't--they didn't have any Jewish friends. They didn't think it was significant. They felt the most significant thing was to make me happy, to make me one of them, to show me how fond they are of me. And at the same time never try trespassing sort of almost pretending they're my parents. They, they didn't want to take the place of my parents. They want me--after the war to hand me over to my parents as their child, which, of course, didn't happen to lots of the children whose uh, guardians weren't as thoughtful as the Rainfords.
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