The event will be held at The Polish Social and Cultural Association (POSK) in King Street, Hammersmith. We’re marking the day with an in-person talk open to all residents. It runs from 11am to 1.30pm.
Lord Alf Dubs will be sharing his story on the day. He arrived in Britian aboard a Kindertransport train in 1939, aged six, as a refugee fleeing the Nazi occupation of Prague.
“The Germans occupied Prague in March 1939,” Lord Dubs said. “My father, who was Jewish, left immediately for the UK. In June, my mother, having been refused permission to leave, put me on a Kindertransport train with a knapsack of food for the journey.”
He travelled for three and a half days to get to London where his father was waiting for him. His mother later escaped and was able to join them in the UK.
“As we remember the terrible events of the Second World War it is my hope that we will also remember the humanity that was shown to children like me,” he said.
“And honour that humanity by standing together and once again welcoming those persecuted by war so they too can have hope for the future.”
Lord Dubs has spent his life campaigning for refugees and human rights and in 2016 sponsored an amendment – later known as the “Dubs Amendment” – to the Immigration Act 2016. This offered some unaccompanied refugee children stranded in camps in Europe safe passage to Britain.
He continues to campaign on behalf of refugees and currently serves on the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly and on the Justice and Home Affairs select committee.
