The Letters IN LIVING COLOUR
Kinder families
It is well known that 10,000 children came to the UK on the rescue mission known as the Kindertransport. Most of these children were fostered by local British families whose names and stories have been largely forgotten.
On behalf of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, I am now looking for foster siblings who remember Jewish children arriving into their homes, refugees from Nazi persecution in the months leading up to the war. We know that lifelong attachments were made, many Kinder regarding their foster parents and their children as the only family they had.
It seems incredible that the stories around the altruism of thousands of British families (notwithstanding some bad apples) have never been formally collected.
If you know of foster family siblings, now of course in their late 80s and 90s, I would be most grateful if you could let me know. Time is running out to collect these stories of quiet heroism.
Mike Levy mike.levy82@gmail.com 07816 468760
Shabbat and the Jews
I enjoyed reading Laurie Rosenberg’s letter, A ready made solution (Letters,5 November), in which the benefits of Shabbat and Shmita were conflated with the issues of global warming and climate change.
‘A Retrospective’, an exhibition of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, is on now at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art
It reminded me of the quote by Ahad Ha’am (Asher Ginsberg) the poet and philosopher: “More than Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.”
In our times, we could perhaps abide by the mantra: “More than that the precious nature of Planet Earth has always, to date, been here for humanity, humanity’s behaviour, going forward, must be more eco-friendly to ensure that our precious planet is extant for us and our progeny.” Stephen Miller
Stanmore
Two much a good thing
Why is Chanukah so early this year? Don’t they realise, this means two sets of presents? Barrington Black
London NW3
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It is a practice helpful to readers to append a biographical note identifying contributors to your opinion pieces. Could you let us know the scientific qualifications of David Rose to comment on climate change (Time to dial down this climate change panic, 5 November)?
Throwaway references to “many demographers” and “most scientists” do not inspire confidence in his conclusions, which appear to be largely based on a literary critic’s distaste for contemporary rhetoric.
Dr Anne Summers (Dr) Honorary Research Fellow Birkbeck, University of London