'The Cedar Boys', Waddesdon collection

In 1939 Dorothy and James de Rothschild of the famous banking family, arranged for the rescue of 30 boys aged 6 to 14 from a Jewish children's home in Frankfurt am Main. They were brought from the Flersheim-Sichel-Stiftung, which was run by the warden, Hugo Steinhardt. Hugo Steinhardt along with his wife and two daughters accompanied the boys and the family became resident at the Rothschild’s property at Waddesdon known as The Cedars.

Helga Brown née Steinhardt, was the youngest daughter of Hugo Steinhardt and creator of this collection.

This collection contains mostly copy papers and photographs pertaining to the Steinhardt family, Waddesdon Manor and the Flersheim-Sichel-Stiftung.

Audio interview with the donor, Helga Brown, who describes how she and her family lived in Frankfurt am Main in the 1930s; that her father ran the Jewish orphanage school, Philanthropin, having been forced out of his teaching post at a state school; how her sister persuaded the UK branch of the Rothschild banking family to support and fund the relocation of the boys to Waddesdon Hall, Buckinghamshire; how Julian Lyton played a key role in the process; she describes the fate of the boys; maintaining contact with them; reunions and return to Butzbach and Frankfurt at the behest of the respective communities

Readers need to reserve a reading room terminal to access an audio interview with the donor