“Within a few days my father was arrested because his name appeared on a list of prominent Jews. Suddenly the atmosphere of fear grew". Her mother, too, was no longer allowed to practise as a doctor. One day, after school, Vera’s mother told her that she must go to England on her own. She assured her that she and her father would try to join her in England as soon as possible.
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But when they reached Prague Main Station parents were refused permission to accompany their children onto the platform to say goodbye. Peering at them from the train window, Vera could only watch them waving their handkerchiefs at her behind the barrier.
Her aunt and uncle boarded the train in Germany and stayed with her until the last station in Germany. Her parents had also arranged for Vera to be met by other relatives in Hook van Holland. She kept a photo of these relatives, who gave her a doll as a present. Apart from this, she had few memories of arriving at Harwich and the subsequent journey. What she did recall was sitting in Liverpool Street Station, surrounded by other children who had also been saved by Sir Nicholas Winton.
“Just sitting and waiting, seeing them being collected ...Feeling so scared. Thinking nobody’s going to come and get me.
“Then a lady coming called Miss Lee, who I’ve never met since but never forgotten, taking me and two other children into her car and driving us. Apparently I was this busy little girl saying to everybody – ‘ Here’s my luggage’ which must have been sent. I was told years and years later that I was this busy little girl, organising myself. But I don’t remember that. I remember getting into Miss Lee’s car and being very happy that I was sitting in the front. Two Czech children sat behind, brother and sister. I talked to them in Czech.”
Leonard and Nancy Faires, a Christian couple, became her foster parents. Vera remembered the kindness shown to her by their daughter, Betty, who was three years older, and offered to share her pocket money with her. The two girls were then evacuated to the Cotswolds.
Until the outbreak of war on September 3,1939, Vera’s parents managed to send her presents and even speak to her on the phone. Then it all stopped. But on May 7, 1945 Vera’s English lesson was interrupted by an announcement that the war in Europe was over. She was ecstatic. “This is wonderful! I shall see my family and friends soon,” she thought. But her hopes were dashed when the Red Cross told her that her parents and extended family did not survive. They were murdered in a concentration camp.
Vera graduated from Southlands College with a certificate in Education in 1950. She became the college representative to the National Union of Students and trained as an English teacher. However, with no hope of reconnecting with lost family, she realised how little contact she had with other Jewish refugees or Jewish organisations. It triggered her decision to go to Israel and spend a year working on a kibbutz. There she met Avram Schaufeld, who had survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald. The two were married in 1952 and moved back to the UK, where they had two daughters. She continued her teaching career, and taught English to a group of Ugandan and Kenyan children who had recently arrived in Brent, most of them of Asian descent, who had been expelled from Uganda by its president Idi Amin. Her own experience of being a war refugee influenced her decision to help others in a similar position.
In time Vera became a sought-after speaker and an active Holocaust educator deeply involved in the establishment of the Holocaust Centre and Museum in Newark, Notts. Alongside her teaching, she brought her personal testimony to schools and colleges, and acting as an ambassador for Holocaust education. She was made an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2019 for her services to Holocaust remembrance and education. Later that year she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Roehampton.
“I always felt that coming on the children’s transport was something so minor, which it was, compared to people who were in the camps,” she said. “My husband had been in concentration camps and had just survived.”
Vera worked with the Holocaust Educational Trust with fellow survivor, Ivor Perl, describing her personal experiences as a Winton child and participating in educational events, lectures and engagements. But it took 50 years after her escape for Vera to discover the role Sir Nicholas Winton had played in her rescue. It happened when some of the children he had rescued appeared as adults on Esther Rantzen’s landmark 1988 That’s Life! TV programme to express their thanks to him. Vera, herself, developed an enduring bond with Nicholas and his wife, Grete.
In a tribute the AJR described Vera as "a cherished AJR stalwart and lifelong Holocaust educator,” whose testimony has inspired countless people. “Her longstanding involvement with the AJR, and her commitment to spotlighting the experiences of the Winton children, made her an extraordinary ambassador for remembrance and education”.
Michael Newman, OBE, AJR chief executive, said: “Despite being only nine years old, Vera’s strength and courage shone through, as she bravely waved farewell to her parents, never to see them again.”
He added: “Within the association (AJR) Vera’s dedication was unfaltering; she generously shared her testimony in our Refugee Voices archive, giving voice to her experiences as a Winton child and participated in many engagements, lectures and educational events. Through her eloquence and hearfelt storytelling, she brought the human dimension of the kindertransport to life.”
Vera Schaufeld: born 1930. Died November 17, 2025
