The School That Escaped the Nazis
‘DEVASTATINGLY AFFECTING’ THE TIMES
‘EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING’ OBSERVER
In 1933, as Hitler came to power, schoolteacher Anna Essinger hatched a daring plan: to smuggle all her pupils out of Nazi Germany under the nose of the Gestapo.
The – mostly Jewish – children who escaped found a safe haven in Anna’s new school, a rundown manor house in southern England, until the outbreak of war in 1939 raised terrifying new dangers.
Despite her growing blindness, Anna continued rescuing children throughout the war. Many had lost their families and witnessed unimaginable horrors. But she was determined to instil the belief in all those under her care that there was still a life worth fighting for.
‘By turns heartbreaking and inspiring, I could not stop reading this remarkable book’
JOSH IRELAND, author of Churchill & Son
‘A celebration of what the human spirit can achieve’
RABBI JULIA NEUBERGER
‘EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING’ OBSERVER
In 1933, as Hitler came to power, schoolteacher Anna Essinger hatched a daring plan: to smuggle all her pupils out of Nazi Germany under the nose of the Gestapo.
The – mostly Jewish – children who escaped found a safe haven in Anna’s new school, a rundown manor house in southern England, until the outbreak of war in 1939 raised terrifying new dangers.
Despite her growing blindness, Anna continued rescuing children throughout the war. Many had lost their families and witnessed unimaginable horrors. But she was determined to instil the belief in all those under her care that there was still a life worth fighting for.
‘By turns heartbreaking and inspiring, I could not stop reading this remarkable book’
JOSH IRELAND, author of Churchill & Son
‘A celebration of what the human spirit can achieve’
RABBI JULIA NEUBERGER
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Reviews
**PRAISE FOR DEBORAH CADBURY**
A gripping story beautifully told
From the pen of a writer of skill and style, this surprising narrative leaves you wanting more
Irresistible. This is history brought bang up to date in the hands of a master storyteller
Engaging and scholarly, confident and compassionate
An affecting human story, fluent and highly readable
Absolutely stupendous... This is history as it should be. I can't praise it highly enough
**Praise for The School That Escaped the Nazis**
A stirring account of a German schoolteacher's efforts to build an oasis for children fleeing the Nazi advance across Europe . . . Impressively researched and vividly told, this is a captivating portrait of courage and resilience in the face of unspeakable horror.
Anna Essinger's wartime school for Jewish refugees reminds us of the lifelong impact which one person's compassion and imagination can make on others - even in the darkest of times. Cadbury's story packs a real emotional punch.
What gives this book its immediacy and freshness is the fact that Deborah Cadbury has spoken to so many of the witnesses to a phenomenal story. The woman who brought an entire school to Kent from Germany, and saved so many children from the Nazis, was a completely heroic figure. This story is an uplifting reminder of how courage, high virtue and intelligence can overcome even the most appalling odds. At many points, with tearful eyes, I cheered - it is a book which stirs up deep emotion, and high admiration, for the author as well as its subject.
A moving and meticulously documented account of how one woman first rescued and then educated hundreds of Jewish children from the horrors of Nazi Europe. A powerful story of hope at a time of tragedy and one which even though set more than eighty years ago sadly has a resonance today.
An inspiring, well-researched life portrait of a spectacularly heroic teacher
Emotionally compelling. . . Cadbury has constructed a lively and compelling narrative
A devastatingly affecting book. [Cadbury's] chapters alternate between the nightmarish experiences of Jewish children in the Third Reich, and a kind of earthly paradise. . . Bunce Court! I keep saying the name to myself because it encapsulates all that is gentle and comically charming about wartime England.
An astonishing book. It is a both a granular catalogue of unbelievable cruelty and at the same time a testament to the determination of hundreds of thousands of kind, compassionate people of every nationality who stood up to the evils of Nazism in defence of children. But the book is not just that. It describes a woman of great guile and incredible organizational talent who outwitted Eichmann, Himmler and that whole shower of bandits whose talents for murder knew no bounds.
Extraordinary . . . Cadbury researched her book meticulously and spoke to many people with first-hand knowledge of the school and the horrors of Nazism. A wealth of references will allow other researchers to explore the same sources and references.
I just loved this book. It's full of hope in terrible times, a recognition of how children develop, and how they experience pain and anxiety, and it tells the story of a remarkable woman who made hope possible and nurtured every child in her school. It's a celebration of what the human spirit can achieve.
By turns heartbreaking and inspiring, I could not stop reading Deborah Cadbury's remarkable book.