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Throw Your Feet Over Your Shoulders: Beyond the Kindertransport

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I couldn't put this book down. I held my breath in suspenseful sections, while crying and laughing aloud in others. The author writes with an inspirational humility - imagine after undergoing being buried alive in snow and spending many nights in an overcrowded bomb shelter - to still question whether presently her uneasiness in certain confining quarters could be evidence of a lack of faith. Her reflections are those of a person whose family's faith was so strong - it continues to support her regardless of whether her ancestors are but fragile treasured memories with whom she has not had physical contact since she was six years old. If this child/author had the courage to live her life with spirit, spirituality, humor, intelligence and courage, how proud would her parents be - who had the foresight and faith to send her with the Kindertransport exactly so she would be able to live a meaningful life which she shares with her family and community! Most importantly, this book gave me hope and inspired me to seek spirituality in my own life regardless of what life may bring me!

It is 1938, in Vienna, after Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria. In December, Frieda Stolzberg, six years old, and her three siblings are put on a Kindertransport - destination, London. Her father, Rabbi Nissan Stolzberg, has been in touch with Rabbi Schonfeld in England and strongly feels this is the best hope for his children's survival. He is strong and stoic, while their mother and paternal grandmother are visibly tortured by the decision. The children never see their family again. What follows is Frieda's account of her life and that of her siblings from 1938 through the war years and after.
The book is so beautifully written and so vividly described that I was immediately drawn to its core. I was able to vicariously share the joyous and sorrowful episodes. The events which precipitate stories such as this belong to a very dark period in Jewish as well as world history and I expected this might be a tearful journey. On the contrary, Frieda Korobkin's book, full of youthful innocence, wonder, and a desire to live life to the fullest, is positive, warm, and uplifting. I have read it twice and plan to reread it again and again. I highly recommend it!

The book is a powerfully moving and inspirational saga of a young child rescued from the cauldron of hate and desperation in Europe in the 1930's through the indefatigable efforts of Rabbi Sholom Schonfeld and the Kindertransport, to safe haven in England for the duration of WWII
The author's challenging sojourns in England, Israel and the US are eloquently and vividly described and her book deserves a significant place in the archives of literature covering the most heinous and horrific period in the history of mankind.

The corpus of modern Jewish literature is replete with a veritable multitude of Holocaust memoirs; each one personally adding a unique dimension to the tragic, unspeakable horror of the event that defined the 20th century. Some are stories of hope, faith and courage against all odds while others offer graphic depictions of the depravity of modern civilization. "Throw Your Feet Over Your Shoulders - Beyond the Kindertransport" (Devora Publishers) by Frieda Korobkin is a poignant account of the Holocaust years and beyond and one that speaks to the heart and soul of a young and frightened child separated from her family.

Mrs. Korobkin presents a compelling, powerful and vividly described odyssey of her life as a six year old child who had been sent by her parents at age six, along with her siblings, from their home in Vienna, Austria to the relative safety of England. What follows will surely arouse a panoply of emotions while simultaneously serving as a true testament to the strength of the Jewish soul. It is clear that the trajectory of her life was not orchestrated by a fortuitous confluence of events, but rather by the hand of the G-d that her family so tightly embraced..

In the aftermath of the Nazi anschluss, the devoutly Orthodox Stolzberg family struggled to survive, as the grip of Nazi oppression could be felt ever more acutely with each passing day. Despite the tremendous financial hardships and the emotional strain that her family endured, Friedl (as she is called) is nurtured adoringly by her loving parents, Yocheved and Nissan and her beloved grandparents, Oma Blima and Opa Shmuel. Her father is an accomplished Torah scholar, a graduate of the Vizhnitz yeshiva and a man of true faith and trust in G-d. Of her father she says, "Papa's favorite saying was Gott wird helfen, 'God will help.' When Opa Shmuel lost all his money and was no longer able to help his children, Papa said, Gott wird helfen. When Mama miscarried her first few pregnancies, he said, Gott wird helfen. When Hitler's rumblings were heard in the early thirties and the family's economic situation became ever more dire, Papa continued to say Gott wird helfen. And Papa was right."

It is December of 1938, and with great anguish, Friedl's parents make the heart wrenching decision to send her and her siblings; older sisters Mriram and Erika and brother Ephraim on a kinder transport to England organized by Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld. Her parents tell her that with G-d's help they will all be reunited after the war. Upon her arrival in Holland, Friedl sees Rabbi Schonfeld for the first time. Frightened by her journey and intimidated by strangers, Friedl is overcome by diffidence. She would soon find out that the man with the undulating voice was indeed an innocuous soul whose gentleness, sensitivity, care and concern would sustain Friedl throughout the course of her life..When Rabbi Schonfeld queries her as to whether she speaks Yiddish, she is afraid to reply, yet suddenly blurts out "Throw your feet over your shoulders and run away!" Rabbi Schonfeld laughs heartily and draws her gently to his side. The eternal bond had been forged.

Being separated from her sister and brother, Friedl lives with a barely observant Jewish family in London. It is there that she is forced to desecrate Shabbos for the first time, while living with an adopted mother who coerces Friedl to call her "aunty" and excoriates her publicly for falling asleep during a movie. After the British government issues an edict that all children must be evacuated from London due to the impending Nazi threat to bomb the city, Friedl is then adopted by a kindly non-Jewish couple; Mrs. Whyte-Smith and her husband; a retired Colonel. She now lives in a stately home in the English country side; a village in Surrey called Thorpe.

While Mrs. Whyte-Smith and her housekeeper Annie lovingly raise Friedl, they also take her to church on a weekly basis, celebrate Christmas with her and teach her gentile prayers to recite. Despite the pervasive non-Jewish culture that is being thrust upon her, young Friedl continues to recite the bedtime Shema Yisroel prayer that her parents taught her years ago. When Annie gets called up to serve her country during war time, Friedl is told by Mrs. Whyte-Smith that she can no longer care for her without Annie's help. Friedl is once again transferred to a new gentile home.

She resides there but a brief time before she is reunited with her sister Miriam and brother Ephraim. She now lives in the Cardiff hostel where her brother had been living with other Jewish boys. Rabbi Schonfeld is thrilled that she is here and she is once again surrounded by other Orthodox Jews and is taken under the wing of the hostel matron and her husband. She attends the Cardiff school for girls; a secular institution in which she and only two other girls are Jewish. She again experiences anti-Semitic taunts and innuendo as she had while attending school in Thorpe, but takes comfort in returning to the hostel each day to be with her siblings and to spend Shabbos with the other children. When the hostel closes in 1943, Rabbi Schonfeld sends her to the village of Shefford in Bedfordshire to attend his Jewish Secondary School. It is at JSS where Friedl extricates herself from the shell she had been trapped in and excels in both academics and sports. She flourishes in an genuinely observant Jewish environment, yet, as the war winds down she still has no clue as to whether her parents are still alive.

Mrs. Korobkin's lively description of her formative years at JSS resonate with gladness as speaks of her teachers and fellow students with the similitude of beloved family members. Rabbi Schonfeld is a surrogate father of sorts to Friedl as he makes sure she has everything she needs and listens with deep concern when she needs to share her feelings. He is cognizant of the fact that Friedl is a child who vehemently clung to her Jewish faith in spite of the enormous non--Jewish influence in her life and without the benefit of encouragement and support from her parents. Subsequent to her graduation from JSS, Friedl decides to move to Israel and her excitement upon seeing the Holy Land remains one of her greatest moments. She eventually moves to the United States where marries and raises three children in a strictly Orthodox home.

In 1973, the author learns the fate of her beloved parents. A mass grave had been uncovered in Brko, Yugoslavia. The Nazis had kept lists of those they murdered and amongst the names of 200 Viennese Jews on this list were the names of her parents and her grandmother. The remains were transferred to the Jewish cemetery in Vienna and given a proper Jewish burial by the Vienna Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society).

It is abundantly clear that the author of this heartwarming book faced innumerable struggles and challenges throughout her life. Yet and still, the faith in G-d that her father had inculcated in her as a very young child served as a beacon of light and hope during the dense darkness of those nightmarish years. This book is a real page turner; a captivating true tale that will leave you inspired and moved. The resilience of the Jewish soul; the indomitable "Pintele Yid" leaps forth from these pages and in to your heart.

This is a wonderful, engaging book that I could not put down. It describes in poignant detail the heart-wrenching journey of Frieda Korobkin and other Jewish children who were rescued from Nazi Europe though the efforts of Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld. Mrs. Korobkin's great memory and attention to detail give a terrific sense of time and place. I am amazed that she was able to endure and overcome so many difficulties and losses, and that she has gone on to accomplish so much, both personally and professionally. Her story illustrates the triumph of the human spirit even in the darkest times. Mrs. Korobkin's detailed descriptions of people, places and conversations make her experience come alive. Her work is more than a memoir and more than a history lesson. It is a terrific piece of writing, laced with humor and astute observations. I highly recommend this book.