Kahn, Margaret_2010, Oral History, May 12, 2010

This interview documents Margaret Kahn's experience of the Holocaust, as well as her understanding of herself as a result of the hardships of her childhood. Until Hitler rose to power, she states that she had a secure middle class upbringing in a home that did not keep kosher. Once she was forced to attend Jewish parochial schools once Jews were banned from German schools, this became an issue since it meant she had to watch what she brought for lunch. She made a friend there that helped guide her through the environment and more advanced studies.

Margaret Kahn escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport, leaving Hamburg for England at the age of 16 in 1938 with her sister Elizabeth, age 17. Older brother Walter already lived in England, younger brother Peter lived in Palestine. Older sister Anna Marie left to Peru. Her parents remained in Germany and committed suicide to avoid being sent to camps. The family had a Gentile nanny named Ellie who was very close to the family, who visited the children in England after the parents died and was able to remain in contact with them years later.

In England Margaret took care of children and eventually became a nurse. In 1946, she came over to Hartford to marry Irving Kahn, whom she had met at school in Hamburg in 1935/1936.