We need to develop our own sense of right and wrong that can withstand any pressure to conform to the herd mentality which can so easily take over our lives. John Fieldsend in his book A Wondering Jew, 2014

John was born in 1931 in Czechoslovakia, and moved to Dresden, Germany when he was very young. He lived with his parents, older brother and dog, and has fond memories of his childhood. In particular he remembers the snowy winters, sledging in the hills, and building models. His family were not particularly religious and John cannot remember visiting a synagogue as a child. He knew more about Easter and Christmas than any Jewish festival.

However, this did not stop John and his family being on the receiving end of anti-Jewish prejudice. John can remember Hitler visiting Dresden in the mid-1930s, and even though John’s family remained indoors they could hear his amplified voice insulting Jews. John can also remember having to go to hospital around this time after cutting his head. The doctor said he needed stitches... but refused to treat John’s cut because, in his words, "I don't stitch Jews”. John still bears the scar as a result.

Despite just being young children, John’s friends also turned on him, simply because he was Jewish. He remembers them calling him and his brother names. To show that they were a loyal German family like any other, John’s brother showed them their father’s Iron Cross medal, awarded for his distinguished military service in World War I. It made no difference.

John’s family decided to flee to Czechoslovakia to stay with John’s grandparents. They thought they would be safe there. However, before long the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, and danger returned. John remembers his father being interrogated by a Nazi officer for pruning a tree.

Eventually, John’s parents took the difficult decision to send John and his brother on a Kindertransport to Britain. They knew it was the only way to save their lives. John remembers his father teaching him how to say “I can’t speak English” in English and saying goodbye to him and his brother. Later, John learned hat he owed his place on the Kindertransport to the heroic Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved over 600 children from the Nazis with these refugee trains. John and Sir Nicholas became great friends in later life.

John and his brother reached London in 1939, and were met by two different foster families who took them to Sheffield. 

John was evacuated to Bedford during the Blitz, but other than that he had a happy life with his foster family and stayed there until 1961 when he got married. They ensured he spoke English well and received a good education.

After the war, in 1946, John received a 'goodbye letter' and three family photo albums from his mother and father via the Red Cross. The letter confounded John's belief that his parents had survived the war. Written with almost unbearable grace, love and bravery, they had known the fate that awaited them. John found out they had been deported in 1943 to a death camp in Poland - believed to be Auschwitz. Whenever John gives a talk about his life, he reads out this letter. It is a profoundly moving experience. 

Fascinatingly, John turned to Anglicanism after the war and was ordained a minister. In the 1960s, he describes having had something of an existential crisis. He arrived at the conclusion that despite being a practising Christian, it had never stopped him being Jewish. Who knows what course his life and beliefs would have taken, had the Holocaust not happened? But aged 93, John is still trying to work out how to reconcile seemingly contradictory ideas. It is incredibly enriching to listen and talk to him.