Read the Transcript J.C: I was born in France in the town of Valenciennes on the 20th of March 1937 and my certificate of birth has me as Joseph Samuel Centnerszwer. INT: Thanks. You were obviously very young; are you able to tell us a little about your family life before you came to Britain?… Continue Reading Joe Cent – Life Before The War
Read the Transcript INT2: When you go to Berlin what aspects are you looking at in architecture? IM: Mostly for the students? INT2: Yes IM: Housing. German housing has been a succession of contradictory ideas. In the Victorian equivalent or the late Georgian equivalent, they had a particular type of building and then, it was,… Continue Reading Isi Metzstein – Reflection On Life
Read the Transcript IM: Not very much. My mother was orthodox, quite religious, and we had big battles about that. She wanted me to do the right thing and by the time I was about 14, I must admit I had lost all interest in religion, or any belief in God. And we had quite… Continue Reading Isi Metzstein – Integration
Read the Transcript IM: I wasn’t. I stayed at home with my mother INT: Right and she found work in Scotland? IM: Oh yes INT: When she came over IM: Yes. For a long time she worked in Geneen’s as a cook INT: So within the Jewish community? IM: Oh she was more related to… Continue Reading Isi Metzstein – Settling In
Read the Transcript IM: Actually not really. It was at the one stage but I was quite young of course. If I’d been older it would be probably quite uncomfortable because they found it difficult to distinguish between Germans and Germans if you know what I mean? But some of them were German. I never… Continue Reading Isi Metzstein – Life During The War
Read the Transcript IM: The 28th of June 1939 INT: And you remember it very well? IM: No I don’t…I remember the arrival, I don’t remember the date. I just happened to have recently looked at the document which was stamped with the 28th of… Of course we arrived a day earlier in London but… Continue Reading Isi Metzstein – Immigration
Read the Transcript IM: Absolutely INT: Thanks IM: So, can we start with your arrival here in Scotland? Could you tell us please when and where you were born and did you have a different name at birth or was this always your name? IM: No. My name is Isi Israel Metzstein. People think Isi… Continue Reading Isi Metzstein – Life Before The War
INT: You mentioned that when you came over… when you left your home to come over at the beginning and you waved goodbye to your parents- Do you sort of reflect on that? How different things could have been had they not come over? Do you feel… IW: Oh yes INT: Very fortunate? IW: I… Continue Reading Ingrid Wuga – Reflection On Life
INT: So you were working during the war? IW: I was INT: You were more than a seamstress really; you were cutting patterns IW: Yes INT: You were learning to IW: No that was, that was for myself. No I was only a seamstress in the shop learning to do alterations to make things smaller… Continue Reading Ingrid Wuga – Integration
INT: Alright. IW: ’41 yes INT: So you came to West Kilbride IW: West Kilbride INT: And you all lived there? IW: Yes well my parents had a job in one house and I was in another house and I was very kindly treated by a Mrs. Wright in a small place, not West Kilbride… Continue Reading Ingrid Wuga – Settling In