Arthur and Lilly: The Girl and the Holocaust Survivor

When Arthur Kern knocked on the door of the house where he grew up as a boy in Vienna, Austria, an eleven year old girl opened. Neither of them knew that this chance encounter would change both of their lives forever.

In 1939, Arthur‘s Jewish parents sent their son abroad on a so-called Kindertransport (“children’s transport”) to France, hoping to save him from the Holocaust. The separation was a traumatic experience for the ten-year-old. Although he was rescued – from Austria via France to the USA – his family were murdered by the Nazis. He never saw them again.

Sixty-five years later: During a visit to his parents‘ former apartment in Vienna, Austria, Arthur Kern – by now a retired rocket engineer involved in the moon landing – meets eleven-year-old Lilly Maier. A decisive encounter for both of them, which not only shapes Lilly’s further life, but also leads to Arthur receiving a long-lost legacy from his parents.

A moving tale of two lives that fatefully cross paths, and an immensely knowledgeable insight into an unknown Holocaust story: the rescue of hundreds of Jewish children to America on a Kindertransport.

Videos showing Lilly Maier and Arthur Kern: http://youtube.com/@lillymaier_author