A new audio series for BBC Radio Newcastle tells the story of a forgotten piece of Holocaust history in the North East.
The show, titled 'The Girls' consists of five parts and has pieced together the story of a Tynemouth hostel that housed over 20 girls who were fleeing Nazi persecution, from countries such as Germany and Austria.
In the lead up to World War 2, the Jewish community on Tyneside answered a plea for volunteers to take in children fleeing the fascist Nazi regime. A committee was created to raise funds that could be used to open a hostel in Percy Park, Tynemouth.
Over 20 girls left their homes and travelled unaccompanied to the North East in a rescue effort known as Kindertransport. The people involved expected the girls to be there for a few months before reuniting with their parents, but they ended up keeping them together and supporting them for seven years in total.
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Broadcast journalists and series producers Jo Lonsdale and Jane Downs discovered this story through a previous interview, after this extraordinary endeavour disappeared from memory. Even amongst the North East's Jewish community today, nobody was aware that there had even been a hostel in Tynemouth.
Jo and Jane have spoken about how this idea came about and why it is such an important story to tell so close to Holocaust memorial day.
"After hearing about this story from a previous interview, we were both surprised that we had never heard about this story and the hostel in Tynemouth. We did more research and found out that three of the girls were still alive, living in Australia, Israel and London.
"We also found archive footage of some of the other girls telling their stories, and got in touch with the current owners of the hostel. We were then able to reunite the families of some of the girls and the people who worked there which was a really emotional and powerful experience", they said.
The work put in by Jo and Jane has resulted in a fascinating series where the girls talk about their arrival in the area, what life was like with the other girls, their experiences going to school and how they dealt with loss whilst being so far away from home.
"We've both been with BBC for several years and there has never been a more emotional story that we've covered. There are a lot of historical links and it is especially relevant at the moment due to the war in Ukraine. There will be many children who are experiencing similar things around the world today. This could be the last chance to hear the stories of such incredible women that have had to deal with so much adversity."
'The Girls: The Holocaust Safe House' is out now and is available to listen to on BBC Sounds.
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