The Story of The Hahlo Family
Georg Hahlo was born in 1895 into a Christian family in Oldenburg, after they had converted from Judaism in 1892. Dieter was born in 1926 and, with his sister, grew up as Christian.
Georg fought proudly for Germany in the 1914-18 war. He was injured three times but each time he went to fight again for his country. He was awarded the Iron Cross.
Under the National Socialists, despite being a Christian and a decorated war hero Georg was prevented from working due to his Jewish heritage and forced to move his family several times in a search for work.
Georg eluded capture in the horrors of the 1938 November pogroms and then bravely pleaded with the police for a permit to travel. In Britain he bought a visa for Bolivia, after ensuring the safety of his children, his son Dieter arriving on the Kindertransport in December 1938. Georg’s daughter had arrived in 1936 and his wife came on a Domestic Service visa in 1939.
Initially, Dieter struggled in Britain, as a German but eventually he integrated and married Gerry’s English mother. They lived in London and he died in 2016. He was never bitter because he knew he had been lucky: his family had survived. As a result of his experiences, he would never tolerate injustices or bullying and spoke up for refugees.
This is a story of an audacious gamble, as well as courage, resilience and utter determination, supported by extracts (read by Gerry’s brother) of Georg’s journal, written in South America after fleeing the Nazis. Dieter’s own voice is heard in the presentation and family and archive photos are supported by detailed research of the historical context. These sources came together in Gerry’s book published in 2022: ‘The Boy on the Train’. All proceeds go to the Wiener Holocaust Library.
Presented by Gerry Hahlo
Gerry retired after 42 years in the market research industry, in international roles that involved presentations of survey findings and of training materials. His degree in social psychology fuelled an interest in what makes people tick.
His father Dieter shared his story of escaping Germany on the Kindertransport, which Gerry documented for future generations in order to highlight the persecution in 1930s Germany and to make them think about injustices experienced by minorities and refugees today. It turned into a book: ‘The Boy on the Train’.
Gerry likes spending time drifting on his narrowboat or in the pub. He campaigns to protect and preserve historic pubs. He, his wife and daughters follow Fulham FC, for better or worse, always hoping for less of the latter.
Watch an excerpt from the story of The Hahlo Family
