Helena’s family heroes
SOME of the best actors in the country are letting their grandparents take centre stage in this emotional and compelling new documentary series, starting with The Crown’s Helena Bonham-Carter.
It’s basically a narroweddown version of Who Do You Think You Are, concentrating on the celebs’ grandparents and their experiences during World War II. And, to be fair, when your family had experiences like Helena’s did, they could fill a whole series by themselves.
Helena’s maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callijon, was a Spanish diplomat. Living in Paris with his family, he was forced to retreat to Bordeaux when German forces arrived in the capital.
And it was there, against explicit orders from his commanders, that he helped thousands of Jewish people escape the Holocaust by issuing visas so they could travel to Spain and Portugal.
It’s an incredibly moving scene when Helena comes face to face with a woman who would never have been born had Eduardo not helped the boy who would become her father, and other members of her family, to leave Nazioccupied France and travel to America.
Considering that man helped to found Unicef, it’s a remarkable reminder of the consequences of people’s actions.
Helena’s paternal grandmother, Lady Violet Bonham Carter was another incredible character.
The politician and mother-offour was a close friend of Winston Churchill and she fought actively and publicly against anti-Semitism, earning herself a place on the Gestapo’s kill list, as well as campaigning for women’s rights and volunteering as an air raid warden.