Schools on the move: Bunce Court, Gordonstoun and Camphill. A talk by Marjorie Downward

As a result of exile from their homelands, Jewish refugee educators founded many schools in the UK. The schools were mostly boarding schools based on the principle of  ‘Landerziehungsheime’ – ‘countryside educational homes.’  In their early days, the primary aim of all these schools was to support young Jewish refugees as they faced the challenge of establishing a new identity  and coming to terms with an unfamiliar and alien environment. This talk by Marjorie Downward will focus on the outstanding educational work of Anna Essinger, founder of Bunce Court School in Kent, Kurt Hahn and Karl König, founders of Gordonstoun and Camphill respectively, both of them in Scotland.

A retired musician and composer, Marjorie Downward  is an independent researcher on a wide range of topics related to aspects of 19^th, 20th and 21^st century social history, including the lead-up to war and the after-effects of war on society as a whole. She has been involved in editing stories of WW2 refugees, European Voluntary Workers and POWs who came to England and stayed.  Marjorie has also helped several authors with their researches, including on the pioneers and WW2 years of Gordonstoun School and the Jewish X Troop.

Marjorie is currently researching the life and work of Lola Hahn-Warburg in conjunction with the vital role played by the Quakers in the rescue of Jewish children and adults from Germany and Austria; also Lina Richter, a remarkable German Jewish suffragette, humanitarian, author and teacher and Susanna Lachmann, one of Germany’s finest female violinists. Thanks to Kurt Hahn, both Richter and Lachmann found refuge in Britain in the 1930s and made a profound contribution to Gordonstoun School.

Booking details here.