Susanne Schaefer

This postcard shows a black and white photograph of Susanne Schaefer, as a child, feeding a lion cub in the Berlin Zoo. On the reverse is a message sent to Edith Indell, with a postal address in Amsterdam.
The postcard was brought to London by Susanne in May 1939 when she became one of the 10,000 Jewish children who escaped Nazi Germany through the Kindertransport. Although Susanne’s Mother followed her to London they remained separated and Susanne lived with a family in Scotland until she left school. Eventually reunited with her Mother, Susanne found work in London as a fashion designer. Her Father Albert, a Christian, had remained in Germany throughout the war. Trapped in post war Communist East Germany he was never able to be reunited with his family.