The Holocaust Educational Trust is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Holocaust survivor Rev. Bernd Koschland MBE.
Bernd was born in Fürth near Nuremberg, in Germany in 1931 to an Orthodox Jewish family. His parents tried to shelter him and his older sister from growing antisemitism and thought about leaving Germany, but his father felt he couldn’t leave his sick mother, Bernd’s grandmother, behind. During Kristallnacht in November 1938, Bernd recalled being forced out of his flat and marched to a public space where the Jewish population were being held. Men, women and children had to stand separately until the morning when Bernd’s father and other men were taken to Dachau concentration camp, returning a few weeks later.
A place was found for Bernd on the Kindertransport, and he arrived in the UK at the age of 7 without a word of English. He lived in a Jewish hostel in Margate with 50 other boys and was the youngest there. He learned English and always remembered seeing his first film, The Wizard of Oz, in the cinema which was a new experience as Jews hadn’t been allowed to go to the cinema in Germany.
At the outbreak of war, Bernd moved to the Midlands and stayed with a non-Jewish family in a house without electricity or a bathroom. He later moved for a third time to an Orthodox Jewish hostel in Buckinghamshire. He tried to contact his parents through the Red Cross, but sadly they had been murdered. After the war, Bernd moved to London and became a Minister and later a secondary school teacher, teaching at the Jewish Free School and London City School for Girls.
He always missed his parents especially in his later years and always felt the aftermath of the Holocaust stayed with him. However, he believed that life should carry on and he was determined to do something useful with his life. He found this in his career and in sharing his experiences to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.
Bernd was a gentle, kind and deeply reflective man. A wonderful educator and a man who has, undoubtedly, made a significant impact on the lives of his many students.
May his memory be a blessing.