This memoir is the story of Lucie Widl (1930–2023), born in Vienna and, due to her Jewish background, sent to the United Kingdom as a child refugee following the Nazi annexation of Austria. She recounts her childhood, her experiences with the Kindertransport refugee scheme in Scotland, her post-war years with vocational training in London and travels across Europe and North Africa, and her eventual settlement in Sweden. There she started a family and came into close contact with the medical facilities of the welfare state. With its keen observations, trenchant commentary, dry humor, and hopeful aspirations, Lucie Widl’s firsthand account vividly brings history to life. This publication includes additional research, annotations, and an introduction by Norbert Götz, professor at the Institute of Contemporary History at Södertörn University.

This memoir is the story of Lucie Widl (1930–2023), born in Vienna and, due to her Jewish background, sent to the United Kingdom as a child refugee following the Nazi annexation of Austria. She recounts her childhood, her experiences with the Kindertransport refugee scheme in Scotland, her post-war years with vocational training in London and travels across Europe and North Africa, and her eventual settlement in Sweden. There she started a family and came into close contact with the medical facilities of the welfare state. With its keen observations, trenchant commentary, dry humor, and hopeful aspirations, Lucie Widl’s firsthand account vividly brings history to life. This publication includes additional research, annotations, and an introduction by Norbert Götz, professor at the Institute of Contemporary History at Södertörn University.