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Gertrude Warmington
This story is taken from an interview with Gertrude Warmington, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interview was by Deirdre Donnelly, and transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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Gertrude Warmington and her little brother were smuggled to safety in April 1939 from Nazi occupied Vienna to safety in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Quakers got them out and this association has played a major role in her life.

Escape from Vienna

Well, the first thing would have been the language. I would have had to make up my mind to learn English. And because I was too young to think of anything political, and the other thing really was terrible hatred for the Germans. I could have killed them, if I’d come across one. But somehow or other I had to learn to not hate. And I notice not just the first 2-3 yrs but later on, what I noticed. What people had the gall to hear, which I had never been told about. And I found that these people had something, there was no hatred, no disgust or anything. And I questioned all this.

What I had left behind was a dictator who made people like animals. Even families were trying to talk about their own families. To give them away to save their own skin.

[How did people stay sane in the pre-war years?]
You mean at home? I was only at home for a year before Hitler. I got out.It was the Society of Friends — I don’t know if you know the Quakers, it was the Quakers who got me out. Because we didn’t belong to anything else. Because although my father was Jewish, he had given up that faith when he was 20. I was brought up without any faith of any kind. So this was wonderful, to find that when I came here that people had a God that loved them and they took people like me in. even for that family in Derry saying “we’ll take 2 children”, I mean they were going to feed us and look after us, I suppose. We didn’t give them a chance, I’m sorry, but children will be children and we did not understand the situation. But to this day, only for them I wouldn’t be here. We would have been dead in concentration camp. Both my brother and I.

I remember that very well. Because after Hitler came we were still at school. And we came home all excited. We were going to join the Hitler Youth, we were going to get uniforms. And my Mum and Dad, up until then we had never heard the word “jew” in our house. We didn’t know. I mean, Dad was just like any other Dad. He wasn’t like anything called a “jew”. And they said “sorry, but you can’t join the Hitler Youth.”
“Why? “We have to” and so on.
Then we were told the reason why.
I didn’t really ... I mean, by then we hadn’t known of concentration camps. It wasn’t anything … that all materialised until after we left. It got worse and worse. I mean, we got out a year after. A year and a month. 13 months.

Everything changed. Especially for the Jewish families. And the rest, the world knows what went on.

It was a family living in fear most of the time. Because every time a knock came to the door, we thought it was here the Gestapo coming for dad. He used to hide. That’s the worst thing I have carried with me, this fear of the doorbell ringing. Even now I would … when I think about it, that’s the biggest fear that I had then as a child. Was them coming for my father.

[did your parents know where you were going?]
Yes, they did. They were told “they’re going to Ireland”. But nobody knew anything about Ireland. I had no idea where it was. Except my grandfather said “the only thing I know about Ireland is, there are no summer or winters. The weather is the same the whole year around”. That’s all he knew.
We were just put on the train, and that was it. It took 3 days and 3 nights. A nightmare journey for 2 children. The last thing I remember is my mum running down the platform with the train as it got quicker and quicker, she couldn’t run as fast, and then that’s the last I saw of her.

Not excitement, I would say, just to me it seemed “it’ll only be a wee day or 2, and I’ll be back”. It was off for a short time, which was maybe just as well. There were even smaller children who, tiny ones. There were about 200 that the Quakers had sent in that batch, and I think we were maybe the last lot who got out. Because war came fairly quickly after that.

We went through Germany and Holland, and then we crossed over to Dover. We didn’t know we were in a boat. We followed a, we had labels saying “Londonderry, Northern Ireland”. We just followed the people. There was nobody … By the time we got … the thing was, there were 200 youngsters gong as far as London. From Dover, then we went by train into London, it was a big, what looked like an airplane hanger. A great big empty thing, I don’t know. Like an airplane hangar. And people came and took children as they knew which child to take. And by the end of it my brother and I were the only 2 left. And I said “this is great. Nobody wants us, we’re going home!”
We were sure we were going back home, but we didn’t know we were only half-way. So then somebody took us to them, up to Liverpool … no, it was that other … Heysham, which is now closed, isn’t it?
Haysham, and then over to Belfast. And then a lady came and met us and took us to Derry in the car, and just popped us there and never said. She never let me know anything. She just said “this is where we’re going”.

She spoke German. She was from the committee in Belfast, I think. From the Belfast committee. She just left us there. And we, I can hardly just remember what the place looked like. Just was on the top of a hill somewhere. And seemed to be a long way there. I don’t know how we found down the next morning, but we got down anyway. Must have just gone any road that was open, until we got onto the main, along the river. But anyway, I mean there’s nothing much about it. I can’t tell you who the people were, they took us to a room and gave us something for tea. It was a plate of rhubarb, which we’d never seen. We couldn’t eat it. And I can’t remember whether we ate anything or if there was anything more. But then they took us up to the loft to go to bed. We didn’t see anybody about, it seemed to be … I don’t know who actually took us into their room or took us up to the loft. It’s all v vague. I tried to forget that episode, because it was horrible.

Well, to find that there was no toilets, there was no beds ... It seemed we were in Africa instead of a supposed European country.
We were living in Vienna. We had all those things. At least we had a bed, we had a toilet at home, and a good bath and basin.
I mean, we weren’t spoiled people, but at least we had the main things that one had. And this was all v native-looking. It was horrible, just.

[do you think they were farming people?]
I could not tell you. It seemed there was not another soul, not a house. It seemed to be on a hill, winding up a road. I’ve often looked for it, but I don’t think that road is there. I have looked, and any time we went to Derry my husband and I used to search for it, but never … we came right down and we were at the river, so it must have been somewhere along that stretch. And I think there was a little viaduct that we went through, just near the main road. I think it was sort of a viaduct, or at least a bridge thing, but dilapidated looking, if I remember. Things growing up on it.

We were waiting for our …. We each had a case, with clothes, to come. But it was coming after us. It wasn’t with us. All we had was, I had a small little portmanteau with me, in which my mum had given us some sandwiches and biscuits and things. But we never ate them. We couldn’t eat anything in those travelling days at all. Just … we got more scared as the train went along. The longer it got, and then when it got into the third night — you know, when the boat was crossing over, then — we were the third night and hadn’t slept.

It was scary enough now. Although my brother didn’t show it. He was younger than me, and somehow he seems to have put all this out of his head and come to terms with it. It seems to have lingered on with me.
I suppose girls and ladies are more sensitive than men.

[And you were trying to look after him]
That’s what my mum said. “Try to stay together, whatever happens. Don’t be separated.”
And I think I did get that over to the lady that came. We were found in Derry. That lady that came for us to take us to the orphanage. I think I must have said something. That certainly kept us together until we were 18. Until I was 18, then I had to move.

[Do you know who that lady was?]
Yes, the same lady that brought us there.

[How did she know to find you?]
It was another gentleman that found us that must have got in touch with them.
It’s just, he was v kind and he must have got in touch with the committee. We were in his house for a couple of nights, and then we had to move. I mean, he couldn’t keep us. There was no way. He picked us up in the car. He was actually told that there were 2 children had come, refugees, and I think he was told to come and visit them. But we met him at the bridge. He was on the way looking for us, and we met him at the bridge. We were already ahead! I guess that was my idea, trying to be mother to my brother. We thought all we could do was to get to the water and there was bound to be a boat to get on. We knew there was a boat to go over to England, it was the only way. There were no airplanes in those days.

[In Derry there was still the language problem]
Actually the man could speak a bit of German, so that helped. He’s gone now, but the family’s still alive. I’m not sure whether they’re in Derry or not. I don’t want to mention the name. it was just so kind of him, picking … as I say, he was told by the committee and with knowing a bit of German he was maybe for taking us out for the day. But we took ourselves out.
But we had a great time. We were free again!
I wanted a bed to sleep in. I didn’t want v much, I only wanted a bed to sleep in and a toilet to go to. For there was none up there, just open country I think.

[Then you went to Millisle?]
Yes.

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