Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger | |
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Nazi concentration camp survivors | |
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Anna Essinger (15 September 1879 – 30 May 1960) was a German Jewish educator. At the age of 20, she went to finish her education in the United States, where she encountered
Early years
Essinger was born on Hafengasse ("Harbor Lane") in
In 1899, at the age of 20, Essinger went to the United States to live with her aunt in
In 1912, using her
Educational reform
While in the United States, Essinger learned about and became influenced by
Essinger was described as a "formidable figure",[12] "stout and stern" and as having the children's welfare at heart.[13] She was a strict disciplinarian with both staff and pupils,[10] but provided a loving, family environment.[11] Most staff and pupils called her "Tante Anna" (Aunt Anna) or just TA, for short.[12]
The children learned two languages from the first day of school on, with emphasis on the spoken, rather than the written word. Essinger believed that children should have physical exercise before breakfast.[1] and great emphasis was placed on physical exercise. Learning was accomplished through living, whether from daily walks in the woods, from the tasks required of the children in and around the building, or at meal time, where there were "English" and "French" tables and those sitting at them would speak in those languages during the meal.[2] The arts were also offered. In addition to painting, drawing, singing and drama,[14] the children learned to play music. In the evening, Anna Essinger read a story and then gave each child a "good night kiss" before sending them off to bed. A 1927 report by the Ministry of Science, Art and Education (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Volksbildung) described Essinger as "extremely competent" and her teaching as "skillful, fresh and stimulating".[9]
Nazi era
An old
After Kristallnacht, on 9–10 November 1938, Essinger was asked to set up a reception camp in Dovercourt for 10,000 German children who would be arriving on the Kindertransports.[17] Essinger, then nearly 60 years old, worked with three teachers, her cook and six of the older pupils to establish the camp, taking some of them into her school. With this, she also sought out families and homes to care for refugee children. Local British committees sought out placements for the children and tried to match children with families where they would fit in. However, the manner in which it was done appalled Essinger, who likened it to a "cattle market", where attractive children were chosen, but less attractive ones were not, lowering morale.[18] The experience of running the reception camp and placing the children was so difficult, that afterward, Essinger refused to talk about it.[19]
In 1940, the school again had to evacuate when southern England became a defence area. Essinger and about 100 children and teachers relocated the school to "Trench Hall" in Shropshire.[10] They were not able to return to Bunce Court until 1946. Having finished her life's work, Essinger closed the school in 1948 and retired.[17]
Later years
Over the course of 22 years, Essinger cared for and taught over 900 children. As the Nazis extended their reach, the children came first from Germany, then Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and England.[10] The last years were particularly difficult. Her eyesight was failing, but more significantly, the last children to arrive at her school were Nazi concentration camp survivors who no longer knew what normal life was like, and sometimes found it very difficult to adjust to.
After she closed her school, Essinger spent her remaining years living at Bunce Court, and maintained correspondence with her former pupils.[12] She helped both children and adults in distress with her motto, "Give children a hand, give them a chance".[2]
Legacy and honours
Many of Essinger's pupils went on to distinguished careers,[12][17] including Frank Auerbach, Leslie Brent, Gerard Hoffnung, Frank Marcus,[12] Peter Morley, and Helmut[12][13] and Richard Sonnenfeldt. Bunce Court alumni returned at every opportunity while the school was still in existence; after it closed, they held reunions for 55 years.[13]
In 1959, in honour of Essinger's 80th birthday, Bunce Court alumni planted a grove of trees in Israel that was named after her.[19]
In 1990, a
In 2004, the
Manuscripts
- Anna Essinger, Goethe and Saint-Simon (1917) Hathi Trust Digital Library. Original from the University of Wisconsin.
Bibliography
- Manfred Berger: Anna Essinger – Gründerin eines Landerziehungsheims. Eine biographisch-pädagogische Skizze. In: Zeitschrift für Erlebnispädagogik 17,4 (1997), pp. 47–52 (in German)
- Sara Giebeler u.a.: Profile jüdischer Pädagoginnen und Pädagogen. Klemm und Oelschläger, Ulm (2000) (= Edition Haus unterm Regenbogen, 3), ISBN 3-932577-23-X(in German)
- Lucie Schachner: Education towards spiritual resistance : the Jewish Landschulheim Herrlingen, 1933 to 1939. dipa-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (1988) Vol. 3, ISBN 3-7638-0510-9
- Dietrich Winter: Herrlingen als literarischer und historischer Ort: Begegnung mit außergewöhnlichen Persönlichkeiten in Zeiten der Entscheidung. Vortrag, gehalten am 9. November 1997 (...) im Rahmen des "Veranstaltungsprojekts Dichter und Richter – Deutsche Literatur in der Entscheidung. 50 Jahre Gruppe 47" von der Ulmer Volkshochschule. Klemm und Oelschläger, Ulm (1998) (= Edition Haus unterm Regenbogen, 1), ISBN 3-932577-12-4(in German)
- Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, University of Nebraska Press (Fall 2004). Volume 23, Number 1, pp. 71–84
See also
- Else Hirsch – helped organize 10 Kindertransports to the Netherlands and England
- List of people who attended Bunce Court School
- Part I Anna Essinger's School.Part II und Part III YouTube recorded presentation at St. Paul's Steiner Waldorf School, London, with former pupils Leslie Baruch Brent and Ruth Boronow-Danson, 29 November 2016, chaired by German-Jewish Journalist Daniel Zylbersztajn-Lewandowski, retrieved last July 23, 2022
- Daniel Zylbersztajn: Reformpädagogik: Eine Schwäbin in Kent. In: Jüdische Allgemeine, 10.5.2016, retrieved last July 23, 2022
- Daniel Zylbersztajn: DW Radio, World in Progress: Jewish Child Refugee. with Bunce Court Alumnus Martin Lubowski. 4th of Jan.2016, retrieved July 23, 2022
Footnotes
- ^ Anna Essinger's siblings were Marie (Levistein), Klara (Weimersheimer), Will (b. November 1, 1884), Ida, Fritz, Max, Paula and Berthe (Kahn). Will celebrated his 80th birthday in 1964. He was an active Zionist and had a "collection of old and classic works on bees".[3] Berthe was born in 1896 and died on April 27, 1994, at age 97. She had three children, Liselotte, Ruth and Walter.[4] Paula Essinger's 1975 obituary in the precursor to the AJR Journal said that Berthe and Marie, then "a sprightly 93", survived her.[2][5]
- ^ Leopold Essinger persuaded his entire family to leave the country.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Leslie Baruch Brent, "A remarkable tribute: Ulm celebrates Anna Essinger's 125th anniversary" Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine (PDF) AJR Journal (November 2004), p. 16. Retrieved October 4, 2011
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Anna Essinger biography Anna Essinger Gymnasium. Retrieved September 28, 2011 (in German)
- ^ "Will Essinger 80" AJR Information (January 1965). Retrieved October 9, 2011
- ^ Berthe Kahn obituary AJR Information (June 1994), p. 10. Retrieved October 7, 2011
- ^ Paula Essinger obituary (PDF) AJR Information (December 1975), p. 9. Retrieved October 4, 2011
- ^ a b c d e Leslie Baruch Brent, Book review: "Unusual record of an unusual family" Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine (PDF) AJR Journal (February 2010), p. 10. Retrieved October 4, 2011
- ^ Anna Essinger biography Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine Frauen verändern die Gesellschaft, a project of the Zentrum für Allgemeine Wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung at the University of Ulm. Retrieved September 28, 2011 (in German)
- Richard W. Sonnenfeldt, Witness to NurembergArcade Publishing, Inc. (2006), p. 121. Retrieved September 29, 2011
- ^ a b Michael Luick-Thrams, "Part I: Persecution, Flight and Reception of WWII-era Refugees" See: Bunce Court Humboldt University, Berlin. Dissertation: Creating 'New Americans': WWII-Era European Refugees' Formation of American Identities (1997). Retrieved September 29, 2011
- ^ a b c d e f g Michael Luick-Thrams, "Anna Essinger and the New Herrlingen School" Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine Parish of Otterden website. Dissertation excerpt, Creating 'New Americans': WWII-era European Refugees': Formation of American Identities. Retrieved September 28, 2011
- ^ a b c Peter Morley, "Peter Morley - A Life Rewound" Part 1 (PDF) British Academy of Film and Television Arts (2006), pp. 5-6. Retrieved September 29, 2011
- ^ a b c d e f Harold Jackson, "Anna's children" The Guardian (18 July 2003). Retrieved 29 September 2011
- ^ a b c Anthea Gerrie, "Revealed: the wartime school that saved lives" The Jewish Chronicle (11 August 2011). Retrieved September 29, 2011
- ^ a b Walter Block reminscense Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback Machine Quakers in Britain. Retrieved September 28, 2011
- ^ a b Biography of Anna Essinger Archived April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Anna Essinger Realschule Ulm. Retrieved September 29, 2011 (in German)
- ISBN 3-598-10477-4, pp. 151 and 316 (Hugo Rosenthal) (in German)
- ^ a b c d e f Photos and short history of Bunce Court Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Town of Faversham website. "Bunce Court, Otterden" Retrieved September 28, 2011
- ISBN 0-7484-0108-3. Retrieved October 19, 2011
- ^ a b L. Schachne, "Anna Essinger 80" Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine AJR Information (September 1959), p. 7. Retrieved October 9, 2011
- ^ "School Bell "Returns Home to Bunce Court" Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine Town of Otterden website. Retrieved September 28, 2011
- ^ Listing for Anna Essinger Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved October 1, 2011
- ^ Index entry Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved October 1, 2011
- (PDF) Association of Jewish Refugees newsletter. Retrieved October 3, 2011
Further reading
- The School That Escaped the Nazis, by ISBN 9781541751194.
External links
- Anna Essinger in the German National Library catalogue
- Archival materials relating to Anna Essinger Leo Baeck Institute. "Guide to the Susan Ehrlich Losher Family Collection, 1929-2007". Retrieved October 16, 2011