Ilse's Story

Ilse was born in Berlin, Germany on November 18, 1925 to a Christian father and a Jewish mother.

In 1939, when Ilse was just 13, her mother sent her to England on one of the Kindertransport.

Throughout her life, Ilse retained the memory of her being the last child at Victoria Station in London to be collected on the day she arrived.

However, with the help of a kind and generous English family, Ilse managed to get an education. She obtained a social work diploma and a university degree in economics. She worked most of her career at the London School of Economics and eventually was responsible for organizing the university’s timetable of courses, a very challenging endeavour.

After Ilse retired from LSE, she was happy to put her administrative talents to work with various non-profit organizations. As a refugee who had survived the Holocaust due to the willingness of the good people of England to open their doors and give their support, Ilse was passionate about providing the same opportunities for current-day refugees.

Justice and equality were guiding values in her life, as reflected in the list of organizations she supported, some of which included: Amnesty International, Amos Trust, the Association of Jewish Refugees, Bail for Immigration Detainees, Bishop Simeon Trust, Emmaus Village, Christian Aid, Justice, Oxfam, the Refugee Council and Safe Passage.

Ilse sadly passed away in 2019 and it is thanks to her legacy that we can continue helping more children today.