Another of our extraordinary women: Mrs Cissi Z.Rosenfelder

Concluding our “Celebrating women” blog series as part of Women’s History Month, we focus this week on the papers of Mrs Cissi Z.Rosenfelder, who worked as Honorary Secretary of the Golders Green Beth Hamedrash Refugee Aid Committee from 1938-9. Her papers form part of  MS116, a range of small collections predominantly relating to Anglo-Jewry.

MS116/157 consists of correspondence between Mrs Rosenfelder and various committees and individuals dedicated to helping Jewish children emigrate from both Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe in the months preceding the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. Refugee committees, parents, families and concerned individuals were desperately attempting to send children to safety as the situation for Jews in Europe worsened. The collection includes correspondence between Mrs Rosenfelder and both institutional homes for the care of children as well as private homes across Britain, discussing whether or not particular children can be accepted due to limitations on the number of spaces available.

Three children assisted by the efforts of Mrs Rosenfelder: Jakob Israel (aged 4), Johanna Israel (aged 6) and Gustav Israel (aged 5) [MS116/157]

One heart-wrenching letter from the collection dated 17 August 1939, less than a month prior to the outbreak of war, states the following:

Dear Cissy… I should have loved to help you, but there are 26 stateless children arriving for the hostel, and there is only room for 24, but I promise you faithfully that if a child does not arrive, I will ring you immediately and give you the first chance. [MS116/157 AJ396/3]

The letters demonstrate the extreme dedication of Mrs Rosenfelder and others like her in trying to help Jewish children emigrate from Europe to Britain, America and elsewhere in the months leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War. The emigration of Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe and Germany has been dubbed ‘the Kindertransport’ by historians and there are differing interpretations amongst historians on the precise nature, meaning and legacy of this historical episode, which preceded the murder of 1.6 million children during the Holocaust. From 1938-9 the ‘Kindertransport’ initiatives brought nearly 10,000 children, mostly Jewish, from territories under Nazi control to safety in Britain, until they were cut short on 3 September 1939.

Popular memory of the Kindertransport often focuses on the success stories, such as that of Sir Nicholas Winton, who in one instance helped evacuate more than six hundred Jewish children from Czechoslovakia prior to the war. These stories are often interwoven into a wider narrative about the humanity of the British people and their steadfast resolve in resisting hateful ideologies and anti-Semitism. Whilst these heroic efforts should not be forgotten, there is a broader story to be told about the nuances of British policy with regards to Jewish refugees escaping from National Socialism in Europe and some historians have emphasised the presence of racist and anti-Semitic attitudes in Britain and hostile warnings of racial or cultural disruption; the grudging nature of the acceptance of Jewish children; the unfriendly intention to ship them off to third countries as soon as was practicable and the exclusion of the children’s parents from entry.

Other commentators have defended British actions, including those of the British government, as praiseworthy and stemming from genuinely humanitarian concerns and have pointed out that the US government, by comparison, had no formal initiative to evacuate Jews from Nazi Germany in the years before the war, as Congress failed to vote on the necessary legislation.

Prior to 1938, Jewish immigration to Britain had been very limited. It is estimated that in the first five years from the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany in early 1933 until the spring of 1938 less than 10,000 Jewish refugees arrived in Britain from Germany. But this changed from March 1938, subsequent to the ‘Anschluss’ and the arrival of German troops in Austria. This moment represented a turning-point in the intensity of anti-Semitic terror in Europe, particularly in Vienna and other Austrian cities. Greater numbers of Jews started arriving at foreign consulates seeking to emigrate, desperate to escape the increasing tide of hatred unleashed against them in their own countries. In April 1938 the British government announced a new Visa system – any Jewish refugee wishing to enter Britain needed a visa and would apply at consulates in Germany. In November 1938 the Nazi Kristallnacht further terrified German Jews. From the spring of 1938 until the outbreak of war in September 1939, when emigration became all but impossible, another 50,000 Jewish refugees arrived in Britain.

In addition to the limited number of spaces as mentioned above, there were also bureaucratic reasons which prevented some potential refugees from arriving safely in Britain, as revealed in a letter dated 21 August 1939 (less than two weeks before the outbreak of war) from the Jewish Emergency Committee for Refugees – Boroughs of Finchley and Hendon:

[…] a permit cannot be granted to the above-named applicant until her husband has left Germany. I am sorry not to be able to let you have better news […] [MS116/157 AJ396/3]

The papers of Mrs Rosenfelder do contain some more hopeful items however, including a letter (translated from the original German) addressed to Mrs Rosenfelder and dated 8^th June 1939 from a woman named Ilse:

Dear Madam! Thank you very much for your letter, which I received together with my permit. I was both surprised and very pleased with my permit, because I had given so many people the job of getting me a job that I didn’t know and still don’t know who I actually owe the permit to. I had previously received no notice from anyone that I had a job and was therefore all the more surprised. I’m coming to Liverpool to the British Federation for University Women. Thank you very much in advance for your help, which was given to me so kindly, and I will gladly make use of it if necessary. I will be going to England in about 6-8 weeks as my permit expires on August 15^th. Receive my thanks again for not leaving my letter unanswered and best regards. Yours Ilse […] [MS116/157 AJ396/2]

The organisation to which the correspondent refers was founded in 1907 and still exists, albeit under a new name – The British Federation of Women Graduates (BFWG) and “seeks to promote opportunities for women in education, and public life more generally” and provides “graduate women living in England, Scotland and Wales with information, support and friendship, at local, regional, national and international levels.”

This blog post, the last in our March 2020 series celebrating Women’s History Month, commends women like Cissi Rosenfelder who worked for the causes of compassion, justice and peace. Women’s History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with International Women’s Day on 8 March, and during October in Canada, corresponding with the celebration of Persons Day on 18 October.