Channing alumnae, Vivien Sieber - Class of 1972, had an idea for a small family project, only to find that it was much more than that. It soon evolved into an adventure: a journey that would see her uncover fascinating family mysteries and connections transporting her to different epochs and countries. Many of these moments are depicted through the eyes and experiences of her family, and newfound friends.

Kino and Kinder tells the fascinating, poignant but inspiring story of one family's survival as the Nazi party's anti-Semitic policies unfolded through the 1930s, leading to the Anschluss and then, world war. Vivien describes how her grandmother, Paula, her father, Peter and his stepbrother, Erich, grew up in pre-war Austria before the descent into war forced them to flee for their lives alongside many other members of the Central European Jewish community.

Decades later Vivien inherited a collection of letters, journals and family photographs from her father, Peter, along with the responses to his 1999 survey of the Kindertransport girls (as mature women) cared for by her grandmother in the hostel. Paula was one of the matrons and kept in touch with many of the girls throughout her life. Vivien was privileged to meet some of these women who generously shared their memories. They talked about leaving their families as young children, their time in the hostel and later lives. Many of their words are included in Kino and Kinder.

Later, during a visit to Vienna in 2019, Vivien visited the flat Paula was forced to leave in 1938, which began a quest to discover the fates of family who had not escaped and the cinema. 

With the use of information from Peter's (contemporaneous) journal, Vivien adeptly depicts his internment in the Isle of Man and Canada which gives a unique insight into the experience. As well as his unpublished manuscripts with compelling details of the rise of antisemitism in Vienna in the 1930s, and his time in the Royal Navy and naval intelligence. 

Filled with page after page of interesting and informative first-hand accounts by a number of the women who had lived in the wartime hostel as young girls, we learn about their lives in the UK after they had been saved by the Kindertransport. The addition of illustration and many wonderful, evocative and historic photographs throughout makes Kino and Kinder a wonderful read.

You can also listen to BBC Newcastle's The Girls podcasts about the Tynemouth hostel and an interview between Vivien and Helen Millican, on BBC Cumbria broadcast here.

To purchase a copy of Kino & Kinder click here.