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Pauline Makowski's coat hanger (EPH 3868)
Imperial War Museums
London, United Kingdom
This coat hanger, inscribed ’Furs liebe Kind’, is one of a set of three, which Pauline Makowski brought in her luggage when she was evacuated from Germany on a Kindertransport. The fate of Pauline’s parents was never discovered.
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Details
- Title: Pauline Makowski's coat hanger (EPH 3868)
- Physical description: Small wooden coathanger with a metal hook. It is painted blue and has the inscription 'Dem braven Kinde' printed on it in black.
- Historical description: This is one of a set of three coathangers which Pauline Worner (née Makowski) brought in her luggage went she was evacuated from Germany in the Kindertransport. 'These three little coat hangers seem to me so evocative of the love that went with sending us, small children into an unknown future.' The full inscription which can be seen across the three coathangers (one phrase on each) reads: 'Für das Kind', 'Fürs liebe Kind', 'Dem braven Kinde'. ('For the Child', 'For the beloved Child', 'For the good Child') 'I remember barely anything at all. I have a selective memory, and I think unconsciously my mind obliterates painful memories. I remember packingthe case and being at the station, my sister, five years older than me, went running till the end of the platform waving good bye. . . . Somewhere we stopped for the night, I do remember being on the top tier in a bunk. A new experience/ I remember the boat, another bunk and milky tea and biscuits in the morning. Standing on deck on a bright cold morning with the sound of raucous seagulls, and the sea.' 'My father was sent to Poland. My mother emptied the apartment and once my sister left to Palestine my mother went to Lublin, Poland to join my father. We never knew what happened afterwards. The Red Cross gave V Day as the day of their death because there were no records of their fate.'
- External link: View on Imperial War Museums' website
- Associated place: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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