‘My Father was a holocaust survivor, came over on the Kindertransport…’
Diane Fairfax
Holocaust memorial has always been a part of Woodcraft in my local District, but over this last year, meeting people from across the movement in the UK I didn’t expect how close an encounter, and how much Woodcraft Folk did to challenge this genocide, and how over the generations we continue to challenge genocide.
Many Woodcraft Members were Holocaust Survivors, or they were their children, grandchildren and friends. Through the generations we continue to challenge genocide and shine a light on Fascism and Genocide, and through our ethos, Span the World with Friendship.
Woodcraft and the Kindertransport
In October 1938 Henry ‘Koodoo’ Fair, National Organiser for Woodcraft Folk was visited by a Czech youth leader from the Red Falcons with an urgent request. Henry knew the young Czech woman because she had previously been at the Brighton Woodcraft International Camp, 1937 and he had probably attended the Bodenbach International Camp where several hundred Czech Red Falcons had attended. Red Falcon are socialist internationalist youth groups, and persecuted by the Fascists, being closed down and their members ‘in peril of their life, hundreds are refugees, sleeping in fields and ditches…’
The visit was a plea for help, and alongside Sir Nicolas Winton (whose life story is told in ‘One Life’ film 2024), he did everything he could to campaign and rescue children , leading to ‘The Kindertransport’. First Henry wrote to all Woodcraft District Leaders. During the Spanish Civil War he had already raised massive sums of money appealing to them. He also asked, ‘can you take a boy or girl, or perhaps two boys or girls?’ 40 Homes were found immediately for Czech children, and over the course of the next year another 1000 children were cared for from Czecoslovakia, of the 20,000 Kindertransport children. For his part in the operation ‘Mr. Fair’s name was near the top of a Gestapo hit list, saying he should go before a firing squad.’
Lessons learnt
And what can we learn? First of all Woodcraft Folk along with countless others across the World still mark ‘Holocaust Memorial Day‘, 27th January, the day when 80 years ago Auchvitz-Birkenau was liberated by the Red Army. Many more concentration camps were liberated in the coming months, and since then there have been more Genocides.
Bridging the generations and encouraging these conversations isn’t easy, but if we are to make any difference it must be to share the stories and raise awareness and do what we can, which when you ‘span the world with friendship, is more, together.
