By LAURA JONES
THEY arrived in Southport never to see their parents again as Europe slid towards war.
For the 20 Jewish girls who fled the Nazis in 1938 this town should have been a dark, traumatic place that they never wanted to remember.
But 47 years later their joy at being reunited in Southport told a different story.
In 1985 the "girls" came from California, Austria, Israel, Vancouver, Sydney, Brazil, London and New York to visit Ruth Livingstone, the woman who saved their lives.
Mrs Livingstone was the driving force behind Harris House at 27 Argyle Road which gave a home to Jewish girls from Europe.
Judy Ruben, nee Jutta Schulz, wrote to Harris House matron, Margaret Stone, from California in 1981: "I was not only surprised but overjoyed that contact had been made after so many years.
"You know perhaps, that you and Southport left a big mark on my life."
The reunion came about after the girls' Southport diary was unearthed at a jumble sale.
Their remarkable story was then told in a Yorkshire TV documentary which brought the girls back to Southport to meet Mrs Livingstone.
Mrs Livingstone's daughter, Nan Bloom, remembers meeting the girls when she was just eight years old.
She said: "My mother went to Harris House almost everyday.
"She had to overcome a lot to do what she did, because other Jewish families were worried that by bringing the girls to Southport anti-Semitism would spread here.
"In fact it was just the opposite, people were supportive, and I'm incredibly proud of her work."
Ever keen to help, the Livingstone family opened their own home to Lottie.
"She was absolutely sweet," said Nan.
"Lottie came over earlier than the others and she must have been 12 or 13 years old which is very grown up when you're eight!
"The others at Harris House seemed happy, or if not happy then not desperately traumatised."
Remembering the reunion, which brought the girls back together after more than 40 years, Nan said: "My mother was very delighted and very touched by it."
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »