A former BBC journalist has uncovered her late mother’s childhood diaries hidden in a wardrobe at her Stanmore home, revealing a remarkable story of escape from Nazi Germany.
Helen John, whose mother Kitty died in August 2023 just three months shy of her 100th birthday, discovered a shoebox and an old Sainsbury’s bag behind boxes and cases at the back of a wardrobe while clearing out the house. Inside were four diaries written in Sütterlin script – a style of handwriting that was later banned by Hitler – along with photo albums showing scenes from her childhood.
Kitty’s” Jewish” identity card.
“I was utterly astonished to find they contained my mother’s childhood diaries from the time when she was growing up, as a daughter of a Jew, in Nazi Germany,” said Helen.
After having the diaries transcribed into modern German, Helen spent 18 months piecing together her family history. The result is a new book, Daring to Be – Inge and Kitty’s Escape from Nazi Germany, published this month by White Fox.
The story follows Kitty and her sister Inge, daughters of the internationally renowned Berlin eye surgeon Professor Oscar Fehr, who treated royalty and film stars in the 1920s and 30s. After being classified as Jewish under the Nuremberg Laws, the family was banned from working in their professions, and the girls were forced to leave their school.
Kitty (right) with her older sister Inge in Berlin
They managed to flee Germany with visas, arriving in the UK in August 1939, just weeks before the outbreak of war. “In the UK, they faced enormous challenges as many people didn’t want a German family in their midst – ‘the only good Germans are dead Germans’. Her father was interned as an enemy alien and requalified as a doctor at the age of 72,” said Helen. “It was only with the ending of the war – that they were finally safe.”
The book is described as a richly illustrated narrative, combining the original diary entries, family photographs and Helen’s reflections.
Quoting Goethe’s Faust, Inge told her younger sister Kitty on arrival in Southampton: “Here I am human. Here I can dare to be.”
The house in Stanmore.
Helen said: “The existence of the diaries was a revelation to me. I knew Mum’s background as a refugee from Nazi Germany but the diaries showed what it felt like at the time to be 15 years old and scared. There was a lot of sadness in what she wrote but some of the entries made me laugh out loud too. In her later years she was so grateful to be able to live a happy life in Stanmore with friends and family around her.”
The book has been praised by historians and media figures, with David Rose calling it “a remarkable, moving chronicle” and James Hawes saying “you can’t help but be captivated by this book.” Dr Joseph Cronin described it as “a compelling, beautifully crafted work,” while Professor Dr Ernst Muller said it was “a richly illustrated narrative that is vivid and deeply moving.”
Daring to Be – Inge and Kitty’s Escape from Nazi Germany is published on Thursday and is available on Amazon and most good bookshops.
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