In Kino and Kinder the story of a European Jewish family's struggle to survive in the face of Nazi antisemitism and the Holocaust is brought into the spotlight. Vivien Sieber, reveals the terrible story of a European Jewish family's struggle in the face of Nazi antisemitism and the Holocaust told through the lives and writings of the survivors, with over eighty evocative historic photographs.

In 1915, Paula’s family bought a cinema in Vienna. Run by two Jewish sisters, the Palast Kino was a success. Antisemitism developed throughout the 1930s as the Nazi Party rose to power, and the wonderful cinema was forcibly confiscated.

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Threatened by Hitler's rise to power, Paula sent her son to safety in England before fleeing herself—a penniless refugee. As World War Two began, Paula became a matron at hostels in Tynemouth and Windermere, caring for girls evacuated from Europe by the famed Kindertransport.

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The girls' descriptions of their lives weave a heartrending tale. From the insidious rise of antisemitism during their childhood, distress of leaving their families, adjusting to hostel life, and the trauma of surviving when most of their family perished, these accounts are distressing, enriching, and evocative.

 

The experiences of a Jewish family fleeing from the atrocities of the Holocaust, and eyewitness details about life in Vienna, wartime Britain and in post-war London, provides a powerful picture of those dark years.