| Administrative History | Allocations: 1919-1927, 1934-1940 (refugees), 1945-1977.
Germany was devastated after World War I, and the continuation of the Allied blockade contributed to food shortages and famine in the country. Germany was the third country to receive aid from SCF, after Austria and Armenia. The first grant to Germany was made on 14 June 1919. It is not possible to be specific as to where the money went, because a lot of it was given through organisations like the Friends' Emergency and War Victims Relief Committee and the Salvation Army. The only specifically German agency listed as receiving money is Dr Schonfeld's Committee for Children's Dinners in Leipzig. In 1921, the Salvation Army was distributing milk to the needy children of Berlin and the Erzgebirge mountains, between Germany and Bohemia. Various children's hospitals and institutions were also aided. One of these was the Sanatorium at Bad Elster in Saxony, a file for which has survived (see SCF/EJ/1/15/14).
In 1922-1923 massive inflation led to a devaluation of the currency and destitution for many. SCF allocations to Germany continued, mainly through the UISE. Among the aid given was child feeding at Nuremberg, 'coca-rooms' in Berlin (run by Radda Barnen), Dr Schonfeld's committee at Leipzig, and the Bad Elster Sanatorium. In 1923, conditions were harsh, due to shortages of milk and the collapse of the currency. Help was again mainly given via the UISE, and mainly took the form of supplies of condensed or dried milk, distributed to families and institutions in Berlin, Hamburg, Breslau and other large towns. The sanatorium at Bad Elster was once again supported. In 1924, allocations were made both directly and through UISE. 1,380 children were fed in Cologne for five months, and SCF shared with UISE the cost of feeding 2,500 children at Neukolln in Berlin.
An appeal was launched in June 1923, chaired by Lady Cynthia Mosley, to organise a sponsorship scheme for institutions in danger of closure. It managed to support 66 institutions. A relief appeal by several charities, including SCF, was launched, without much success. In 1925, the Mosley committee continued on a smaller scale. After that year, assistance to Germany was negligible until after World War II. In 1933 the Nazis under Hitler came to power, causing many of their political opponents to flee - soon followed by thousands of people, mainly Jews, persecuted by the new regime. From 1933 onwards, grants were made to refugees from Nazi persecution, who fled mainly to France and Czechoslovakia. A German Appeal committee was formed by Barbara Ayrton Gould to raise funds for their relief. SCF joined in the general appeal of the German Refugees Assistance Fund. In 1936, the Inter-Aid Committee for Children from Germany was formed under the auspices of SCF. This committee allocated money, after investigation, to individual children, enabling them to live and study in England. In 1938, following the Munich Crisis, many who had fled to Czechoslovakia now felt compelled to move on. After the outbreak of war in 1939 SCF could only support refugees who were already residing in Britain. The war ended in 1945 with Allied occupation and invasion of Germany.
Four SCF teams went to the British zone of Germany in 1945, having been transferred from work in Holland. Three general relief teams worked in displaced persons camps. One of these teams was stationed in the area of the Ruhr, then moved to work at the transit camp at Adelsdorf, dealing with the 50,000 children being evacuated from Berlin. A medical team of 24 persons was based near Lübeck. This team ran a children's clinic, a sanatorium for displaced persons (many of them victims from Belsen concentration camp) and a holiday home for Polish children. In 1946 this team was running a children's hospital at Schlutup for children of displaced persons. The hospital was also responsible for orphanages at Müssen and Rohlsdorf.
Three child specialists, asked for by UNRRA in March 1946, ran three displaced children's homes near Klingberg and a reception centre for unaccompanied children. There was a convalescent centre for Latvian children at Fissau, a home at Bad Lippspringe, and a holiday home at Wildemann in the Harz mountains. Two SCF relief teams were sent to work with the local population, particularly in the bombed cities. Their first task, however, was to help with the reception and accommodation of refugees in Brunswick State. After some months they moved on to work with German children in Brunswick and Munchen-Gladbach, where they carried out emergency feeding, set up kindergartens and youth clubs. Special attention was paid to children living in air-raid shelters. One SCF team was transferred to Bocholt where they were involved in running homes for undernourished children.
In the summer of 1948 the Brunswick team was transferred to Uelzen Frontier Transit Camp, a screening camp in the British Zone, where commissions were set up to decide whether the refugees were entitled to seek sanctuary in the West. The team improved the camp hospital, provided food and medical care, and established kindergartens and play centres in co-operation with German welfare services. The workers at Bocholt moved to Aachen, where a children's club was formed with the aim of discouraging smuggling by children of goods from Belgium and Holland. In October 1948 the hospital at Schlutup and the Seedorf convalescent home were handed over to German administration.
In 1949 the Western Zone became the Federal Republic of Germany, while the East became the Democratic Republic of Germany (the two were reunited on 1990). By 1950 the German economy was recovering. SCF work was reduced to one staff member in Aachen and another at Uelzen. By 1951 the sole SCF worker in Germany was Bridget Stevenson at Uelzen camp, processing over 400 refugees a week. This work continued into the 1950s. A survey was made which showed the urgent need for holiday camps for children from the refugee camps. SCF organised, or helped other agencies to organise, trips to summer camps at the seaside or in the mountains. After a survey of refugee camps carried out in 1952, SCF provided help to Children's Homes, refugee schools and camps all over the country. This help continued into the 1960s.
In 1956 SCF took control of Bahrenhof children's home in order to improve conditions. In 1956 SCF also opened a holiday home in Bad Bruckenau for children from the refugee camps. These were supported mainly from German sources. In 1960 SCF decided to gradually close down its work in Germany. Bahrenhof and Bruckenau Homes were handed over to German Committees. One of SCF's last major operations in Germany was providing flood relief in Hamburg in 1962. By 1962 SCF had withdrawn from Germany. Sponsorships continued to be maintained in the country until 1977. |