Bernd was born in Fürth near Nuremberg, in Germany in 1931. His parents sheltered him somewhat from the growing antisemitism during his childhood, but he did witness some of the local Nazi activities in the town. His father, like many other Jews, fought in the First World War, but this made no difference to the way the family were later treated.
On the night of 9th November, Kristallnacht, Bernd recalls being forced out of his flat and having to march in silence to a public space where the Jewish population was assembled. Men, women and children had to stand separately until the morning. Bernd’s father and the other men were then taken to Dachau concentration camp from which he returned a few weeks later.
Once Bernd returned home, a place was found for him on a Kindertransport train leaving Germany. He arrived in the UK aged seven without a word of English. Bernd found life in the UK very different. He lived with 50 other boys in a Jewish hostel in Margate and was the youngest there.
Bernd attended a local primary school and was soon evacuated due to the outbreak of the Second World War. He lived with a non-Jewish family in the Midlands and later, he moved for the third time, to an orthodox Jewish hostel in Buckinghamshire.
Bernd returned to London after the war and went to live with foster parents until he began his first job as a Minister. In later life, he became a teacher at secondary level. He eventually married and had two children, as well as grand- and great-grandchildren.