George Summerfield

George Summerfield was born Heinz Günther Sommerfeld in Berlin in June 1933 to parents Margot and Franz Sommerfeld. He is the slightly older twin of Peter Summerfield (RV262). His father Franz was a civil servant and had lost his job shortly after Hitler came to power. The family depended on mother Margot who was a Haute couture dressmaker to support the family. George and his twin were sent to a Jewish kindergarten, where their mother took them to by tram. On the 10th of November 1938, on the way to school, they saw the synagogue burn, where they had only recently attended an event for the festival of Simcha Torah.

George’s parents had tried to find ways to emigrate since 1935 and in 1938 the family managed to get registered for a visa to the USA. They were sponsored by a distant relative. When they prepared to send some of their belongings on a crate to the USA, a Gestapo man came to their flat to supervise the packing. Their visa came through in August 1939 and the family bought boat tickets to travel to the USA via the UK. They were supposed to travel on the 30th of August but on Saturday the 26th a relative came to their flat very early in the morning and urged them to leave sooner, as she had listened illegally to BBC radio and understood that war was imminent.   When they asked the caretaker, Mr Schädler, if he could loan them money for the train tickets, he willingly agreed and the twins and their parents boarded the train that Saturday evening.

When they arrived at Liverpool Street station, the Central British Fund picked the family up and put them up in a hotel for two weeks. Shortly after, they moved to a room in Chiswick. The family then moved to Eastbourne. When their father was arrested and taken to internment on the Isle of Man, George, Peter and his mother moved back to London, as ‘enemy aliens’ were not allowed to stay on the coast. They lived in a room in Chalk Farm and spent every night in Tottenham Court Road Underground Station which functioned as a bomb shelter because of the Blitz. George’s mother went to Woburn House regularly to organise their emigration to the USA. They were bullied at the local primary school for being ‘Germans’ and then moved to The Hall School in Swiss Cottage.

The family joined Belsize Square Synagogue and George and Peter were they only children of that age in the community. They started performing, singing and tap dancing for the synagogue, for the Blue Danube, and American troops. George and Peter went to William Ellis Grammar School and received scholarships to study in Oxford (Pembroke College). They were sent on active duty to Egypt and Malta as part of their national service.

The brothers' careers at first developed in parallel. Both initially worked as lawyers until George, who spoke six languages, briefly went into tourism. In 1960 he set up Career Analysts with his Cambridge graduate friend, Joshua Fox, where they worked as educational psychologists assisting people with their life choices. The company still runs today. With his first wife Giselle, who passed away in 1991, he had two children, Jacky and Michael. He had four grandchildren Jonluke, Nathan, Raphael and Lotte. He later married his second wife, Marion.

In 2021 George and Peter participated in a BBC film series called ‘Saved by a Stranger’ and was put in touch with the son of Rolf Schädler, the caretaker who saved their lives. George’s parents had been in touch with Rolf after the war and they repaid the money they owned him and send some care packages but then lost touch with the family. George was very pleased to be able to meet Rolf’s son on Zoom.

Key words: Berlin. Transit Visa to UK. Visa for USA. Late escape from Berlin. Eastbourne. Twin Performers. Blue Danube. Belsize Square Synagogue. Swiss Cottage. The Hall School. William Ellis Grammar School. Military Service in Egypt. Oxford University. Career Analyst. BBC Saved by a Stranger.