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May 27th 2021
When the Past Collides with the Present
Phyllida Scrivens
Members enjoyed a fascinating talk via Zoom given by acclaimed biographer, historian and writer Phyllida Scrivens. Her illustrated presentation entitled “When the past collides with the present” detailed stories of unexpected coincidences, luck and fate arising from her research for her two books - “Escaping Hitler” and “The Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich”.
The former tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy Gunter Stern of a Jewish family in the German village of Nickenich who escaped the Nazis by making his way to safety in England on the Kindertransport. He changed his name to Joe Stirling and led a full life in this country, among other things being active in local politics, becoming Sheriff of Norwich in 1975 and founding the successful travel firm Stirling Travel.
During Phyllida’s research, when Joe was then aged 92, unexpected documents came to light at the Jewish Relief Archive relating to Joe’s childhood and his escape on the Kindertransport. Tucked away in Joe’s office desk was found the will of Freda Free, his English foster mother, and amongst bequests money had been left to a school in Birmingham in commemoration of the Free’s daughter Margaret who had attended the school but sadly died aged 13. In 2017 a man, whose grandfather had lived in Nickenich before the war when the Sterns lived there, came to meet Joe. In a chance encounter at the Norfolk Record Office another man told Phyllida that his grandmother Berta Schonewald, like Joe’s parents, was also on the train that crossed the bridge at Koblenz bound for an extermination camp in Poland.
In researching her book “The Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich” Phyllida came across an elderly man who had been deputy to Jessie Griffiths when she was Lord Mayor in 1969-1970. It turned out he had mayoral memorabilia relating to Jessie’s time in office, which proved invaluable for Phyllida’s writing, and has now been deposited in the Norfolk Record Office.
Len and Barbara Stevenson both held the office of Lord Mayor in 1983-84 and 1985-86 respectively. During the 1950s, the couple fostered a boy called Trevor, but, once recovered from TB, his mother took him back. Barbara and her children were unaware that the boy later moved to Australia. Through various channels Phyllida made contact with him and he replied via email saying “this made the hair on the back of my neck stand up”.
Phyllida returned to stories from “Escaping Hitler” and for Joe Stirling perhaps the most extraordinary tale of all. In the 1930s young Gunter’s uncle Alex Stern ran a store in Dusseldorf, but in 1939 before war broke out he escaped with his wife Berta and family to England. Joe had told Phyllida that Alex, Berta and two grown-up sons had then taken a ship from England to America, but sadly the ship had been torpedoed and all were lost. Then out of the blue in 2018 Phyllida received a startling phone call from Alex’s grandson in London who confirmed the wrong story had first been put out by the press all those years earlier and the torpedoed ship’s passengers had, in fact, all survived. In fact Alex had run a costume jewellery business on Fifth Avenue, New York, for some years and his grandson, who phoned Phyllida, was the son of one of Alex’s daughters who had remained in England. In 2019 Joe’s second cousins travelled to Norwich to meet Joe.
Phyllida’s next book, to be published in 2021, is entitled “The Great Thorpe Rail Disaster of 1874”. Early in her research period, while giving a talk at Costessey Golf Club, a couple approached her and said that they had a friend who is the great grandson of one of the victims! Phyllida arranged to meet him and gained a lot of information for her book. This was just another example that when you are researching biography or history you never know what might turn up.
Kevin Hurn, who was in the chair, gave the vote of thanks.
NOTE: Phyllida is booked to speak to the Heritage Society about “The Great Thorpe Railway Disaster 1874” on Thursday February 24 2022 - hopefully at the Fairland Hall.
For more information about Phyllida Scrivens' latest book, visit her website at thegreatthorperailwaydisaster1874.com/.
Report by Philip Yaxley
