Bernard (Bernd) Simon was born in Berlin in 1921. He was a pupil at Anna Essinger’s school in Herrlingen and moved to England with the school at Bunce Court near Faversham.  His mother, Gerty, came too.  She was a well-known photographer in Berlin and was able to reestablish in Chelsea in the 1930s.  His father Wilhelm only managed to get out of Berlin in 1938 after the Novemberpogrom.

 

Both Bernard and Wilhelm were arrested as enemy aliens in June 1940 and sent to the Isle of Man.  Wilhelm was quickly released but Bernard was sent to Australia on the infamous Dunera where he was imprisoned at Hay and Tatura. Bernard was eventually released and able to return to the UK in order to take care of his now ageing parents. After the war Bernard forged a career with Time Life magazine.