About this deal
After the chaotic opening days, and almost against the odds, the children at the castle established a bond and a community that was remarkable. After a short distance, Henry glanced over his shoulder, and was relieved to see that the officer was not pursuing him but one of his friends. Moments later he looked again and was horrified to see that his friend had been caught. For a moment, Henry was torn between continuing his escape or returning to assist his friend.
All was going relatively well at Gwrych until the Nazi invasion of Denmark and Norway – when suspicions about fifth columnists began to spread and anti-Jewish antipathy was spread by local agitators including the editor of Y Llenor and a local councillor.
Excited by the prospect of living in a castle, the children found themselves in an empty and dilapidated building, without electricity and with an unreliable water supply.
Refugee: Gerard Friedenfeld, one of the 200 children at Gwyrch, with his parents in Prague before the war. They were never reunited (Photo: Handout) It also chronicles the ways in which the local community in Abergele accepted and supported the newcomers, with anything from clothes and cakes, readily supplied gifts for young people who had spent much, if not all of their lives `as members of a mercilessly persecuted minority.’ It presents and preserves a telling moment in Jewish history, a gathering of persecuted people in testing times, who made friends, found succour, sanctuary and sustenance in the company of others in a draughty Welsh castle before dispersing again, or, far more cruelly, being once again forced to do so.A castle with extensive grounds, surrounded by good agricultural land was a good prospect for creating a temporary home for the refugees, but in truth it was a damp and draughty pile, where water ran down some of the interior walls and the sanitation and kitchen facilities were utterly inadequate. Chapter 10 – “I couldn’t see any purpose to it”: July – September 1940. Departures, arrivals & divisions
The fact that the centre was chosen as the place to host all the training schemes in October 1939 showed how much the project impressed people. For several days they slept on hard floors and battled hunger until donations from Marks & Spencer and the local Baptist church transformed things. Within weeks, their madrich, Erwin Seligmann, had found them on work on local farms and routines were established. Several reasons were suggested for the closing of Gwyrch, but the overall one was financial and possibly that despite good relationships between Gwrych and the people of Abergele, Jewish people were not massing in Abergele. The Epilogue outlines the later significant achievements of some of the youngsters. Policeman Sam Williams, who had been ‘on the beat’ around Abergele, was shaken by the event. Although few had seen them, rumours were rife of German refugees who had arrived at Gwrych Castle over the previous few weeks. But the look he had seen in the eyes of the boy that he had caught spoke of absolute fear. Why? Who were they, anyway? Gwrych Castle April 28, 1940 Chol Hamoed PesachAs a sign of the importance of Gwrych, a rabbi was appointed to the project. Rabbi Sperber initiated educational programmes that focused heavily on developing the children’s religious knowledge and understanding. Nationally, however, after Dunkirk, the mood changed and the Gwrych community was damaged by the internment of “enemy aliens” in the summer of 1940. Henry thought carefully about the words to use, and as the officer turned his head towards him, without loosening his grip on his captive’s collar, he asked, ‘What have we done wrong?’
Members of the Gwrych community were particularly welcomed by local farmers who were faced with the twin challenges of being required to increase production at a time when their sons and agricultural workers were being sent to war. Gwrych Castle is an enchanting gothic ruin on the picturesque North Wales coastline, with spectacular sea views and fairytale splendour around every corner.If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us In 2020 and 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, Gwrych Castle was familiar to the British public as the setting of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Lesser known is that, at the beginning of the Second World War, this once-grand country house in North Wales became home to around two hundred Jewish refugee children who had been rescued from Europe on the Kindertransport. Together, they developed and came to agree upon, a vision for a better future. Visitors commented on the spirit and ambition that the children of Gwrych displayed.