How a German Jewish teenage refugee became a very British woman

This is a summary, Hilde's self-penned life story is attached separately.

Hilde Norris was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on Christmas Day 1920 and died aged 93 in Wokingham, Berkshire, in 2013. In 2005, she wrote her very detailed life story, a copy of which is attached to this submission.

Having only obtained a passport on 10th August, Hilde came to England alone, as a refugee, on August 21st, 1939, thirteen days before war was declared, speaking limited English. She had a job in Hull and, hearing the unfamiliar accents, was unsure that she was actually in England!

Forced by the Aliens Order 1939 to move from Hull (as it was a port), she went to London and, after taking various job roles, began work with the Hampstead Nursery, run by Anna Freud, for infants affected by the conflict. Many were orphans and had been subject to terrible experiences. Decades later, Hilde would talk with great affection and insight about the children for whom she had particular responsibility.

The Nursery moved to New Barn, Lindsell, in Essex to avoid London air raids, and Hilde moved with it. There she met her future husband, John Norris, who was a conscientious objector and a member of the Pacifist Service Unit, allocated to New Barn's maintenance crew.

One of the associated objects, her Certificate of Registration as an alien, adds the name 'Sara' which was not her name but which she had been obliged to adopt by a Nazi law of 17th August 1938, as were all Jewish women with 'non-Jewish' names. (Men had to adopt the additional name 'Israel'.) This Certificate illustrates the extremely tight controls applied in Britain to 'enemy aliens', having to obtain dated and timed permission from the local police to leave their place of residence, then register both arrival and departure with the police local to their destination. Sometimes, Hilde was obliged to remain indoors within specified hours.

Having decided to marry, John joined the Ministry of Agriculture to earn a wage and moved to Nottinghamshire. Hilde and John married on March 25th, 1944, and she had a new Identity Card issued in her married name (copy attached). Their wedding was a 'budget' affair, but someone found six tulips for a bouquet, and a single photograph was taken (attached). The 'bouquet' was kept for decades until it fell apart (photo attached). Hilde's father, Leopold, was named on their marriage certificate (attached). Of course, she did not know that he had died two years earlier in the Lodz ghetto in Poland.

In Nottingham, Hilde worked in horticulture, helping grow food crops, but later returned to childcare and stayed in this profession, with a break while her children were young, for the rest of her working life. When John was promoted in the Ministry, the family moved to Woodley, near Reading in Berkshire.

Hilde and John lived near Reading for the rest of their lives. Hilde was extremely proud of her acquired identity as a British woman and maintained that she spoke with an English accent. Her family and friends rarely contradicted her, but her origins were clear from her speech to the end of her life. She was a quietly inspiring woman, highly respected in her work and much loved by her family and friends.

Helen Norris
March 2024