Kestenberg Archive

SS was born in May 1936 in Munich. She was placed with her twin sister in the Antonia Strausser Orphanage in Munich by her mother, who came from a very Orthodox family. She has a few memories from the orphanage, for example she was never allowed outside the building. In May 1939, SS and her twin sister were taken to England as part of the Kindertransport. They were placed with a Baptist minister and his wife in Cardiff. She states that they were a childless couple and hoped that if they took in Jewish children in need, then they would be blessed with their own children. They renamed SS and her sister. SS's sister became ill at age seven and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She lived with this until she died at the age of 35, and was disabled and confined to a wheelchair from age 10. SS grew up with no knowledge of her past or her true identity, not even that she was Jewish, until she began researching in the late 1980s. In 1985, SS underwent surgery which, after a period of depression, led her to research her history. She wrote to a radio program with Bertha Leverton and they helped her to discover the truth of her past. SS discovered family in America and Israel, as well as information about her parents. She has also since made contact with two people who were in the orphanage in Munich with her. SS no longer has contact with her foster family, but her son is in contact with them.