Ruth & Eva Schwarz

The sisters grew up in Chemnitz. Their mother, Ottilie (née Nathansohn), was from Dresden, whilst their father, Idel Ignatz Schwarz, was from Poland and ran a hosiery factory and wholesale business in Chemnitz. The family eventually settled at 2 Andreasstraße in the Lutherviertel.

On 28 October 1938, her father was taken away during the night as part of the expulsion of Polish Jews and was sent to Łódź. Ottilie continued to run her husband’s business until March 1939, before she was forced to give it up. All plans for the whole family to emigrate to the USA came to nothing.

On 11 June 1938, one day before leaving Chemnitz, Ottilie Schwarz wrote a farewell letter to Eva:

My dear little Eva,
Today, on the last day before your departure from Germany, I am writing these lines to you also on behalf of your dear father, and I wish that you may always be a good person and always seek to bring joy to your parents. May the Lord protect you and keep you safe, and bless your coming and your going!
With constant love and concern
Your Mummy

On 13 June 1939, Ruth (14) and Eva (10) fled from Bremen to Southampton on the steamship Europa. Also on board were four other children from Chemnitz and a total of around two hundred children from all over Germany.

A stamp in Eva’s child’s passport confirms their arrival in Southampton the following day.

Upon their arrival, Eva and Ruth are separated. Eva is taken in by Margery and Harry Kaye and their daughter Phillippa in Cardiff, whilst Ruth goes to stay with Kaye’s friend, Mrs Phillips. From letters to Margery Kaye, collected by her grandson Paul Seligman, reveal how the escape and arrangements for the children’s accommodation were organised in advance. Attempts were made, primarily through personal contacts, to find potential foster families.

Ruth and Eva are the only survivors of the family. The whereabouts of their parents remain unknown. Ottilie presumably followed her husband to Łódź. It is unclear whether they died in the ghetto or were deported and murdered there.

Eva and Ruth remained in Wales. Ruth, later Ruth Bettina Vine, died in 2012. Eva worked as a pharmaceutical representative and married Harry Gibbor in 1949. Their son Ian was born in 1950.

Eva Gibbor still lives in Cardiff. In 2025, she will be interviewed for the film "Wales: A Home from Home".