A new history panel recounting the 1938 Kindertransport arrival in a coastal town has been unveiled during a special ceremony.
The giant interpretation panel was unveiled at Lowestoft rail station - close to where hundreds of young Jewish refugees had arrived in December 1938.
And as people from the community gathered to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at the station last Friday, a special ceremony was held to unveil the new panel – which recounts the events of the 1938 Kindertransport arrival in Lowestoft.
Wreaths are laid and a special event is held at the station each year in recognition of the arrival of a Kindertransport train in December 1938, which carried hundreds of Jewish children who had been evacuated from Nazi Europe.
On December 12, 1938 more than 500 mostly Jewish children arrived in Lowestoft from Vienna, having been rescued from Nazi oppression.
On arrival they were moved to Pakefield Holiday Camp before switching on to more permanent accommodation.
The panel includes details of their journey across Europe by rail and steamship, their arrival in Lowestoft, where the children were met by the mayor, and information relating to the circumstances which prompted their evacuation and how this was achieved.
It features part of the original Lowestoft Journal newspaper article from an edition published in December 1938 which also included a special greeting published in both German and English.
The Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership (CRP) together with the Lowestoft Central Project arranged for the panel to be produced and installed with support from Lowestoft Town Council, Network Rail, Greater Anglia and the Northern Line Group of the East Suffolk Line CRP.
Content for the panel was researched by historian and town councillor, Andy Pearce, and designed by Norwich-based James Mingay.
At the special unveiling at Lowestoft station were Waveney MP Peter Aldous, Mayor of Lowestoft Alan Green, Cllr Andy Pearce, Greater Anglia area manager James Reeve and Community Rail development officer Martin Halliday along with representatives from The Journal, the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership, Network Rail, schoolchildren, the Lowestoft Central Project and members of the Jewish community.
'A lasting reminder'
Martin Halliday, development officer at Community Rail Norfolk, said: "We are delighted to have worked with the Lowestoft Central Project, Lowestoft Town Council, the Lowestoft Journal and our rail industry partners to install a permanent information panel dedicated to retelling the events of December 1938 wherein the town welcomed over 500 refugees as part of the Kindertransport from Vienna.
"Whilst on Holocaust Memorial Day we remembered the millions of lives lost through genocide, unveiling of the history panel at the station provides a permanent reminder of the horrific circumstances that led to the Vienna Kindertransport and recognises the small part Lowestoft played in welcoming those Austrian children, whose lives were undoubtedly saved."
Lowestoft town councillor Andy Pearce said: "It was a privilege to be asked to research content for the panel, retelling the harrowing circumstances that led to the Kindertransport initiative and those amazing individuals that played such a significant role in helping these children escape oppression, enabling them to forge new lives in a free World.
"The installation of the panel at Lowestoft railway station will give a lasting reminder of the role played by Lowestoft and hopefully inform future generations about the background to an incredible achievement of the Kindertransport."
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