Tante Truus Kindertransport – WWII

A Venturing Nomad.

Crossing the North Sea from Harwich to Hook Van Holland has been the connection between the East of England and the Netherlands since the late 1800's. Initially run by the railway companies, the concept of the Boat Train has always evoked a nostalgia for the romance of travel in me, ever since I was using Liverpool Street Station as a child, taking the journey from east London to Suffolk.

Childhood eyes, wide and transfixed on the departure board for a train to catch a boat to Europe, fueled my imagination of foreign adventures, strange foods and exotic languages and developed a hunger for travelling that I am still feasting on.

Years later, I have been fortunate enough to become incredibly familiar with both the station and the sea crossing through work, travel and family, and there is no intention to end that longevity of a relationship anytime soon.

I always take a moment of reflection at the statue in Liverpool St Station of the life-sized children with their teddy bears and bags, commemorating the Kinder Transport and the safe haven this route was for thousands of children fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s. May 2025 sees the 80th anniversary of the end of those hostilities in Europe, and whilst war at that time was mainly a male endeavour, the role of women cannot be ignored. From the UK land army to working in munitions factories, the contribution of key women and one in particular, Tante Truus (Auntie Truus) as she was known.

Hardly, anyone could say they have heard of this amazing individual, yet she was responsible for saving over 10,000 children from persecution from the Nazis in the run-up to WWII.

Geertruida Wijsmuller- Meijer, affectionately known as Truus, was already in her mid-40s as war brewed across Europe in the late 1930s. So, her actions over the next few years are even more remarkable when you consider that women of that time were expected to be homemakers, teachers, or nurses. Already heavily involved in social work, it came to her attention, the night after Kristallnacht in November 1938, that Jewish children were wandering alone in the forest at night.

She travelled to the Dutch-German border and found a young Polish boy, who she smuggled back underneath her skirts. On 17th November, she took her first group of six children, and on 2nd December, she received a request to visit the newly formed Dutch Children's Committee in Amsterdam. It was here that she learned of Dr Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer responsible for the forced emigration of Jews; she travelled immediately to Vienna, where he was based and, from all accounts, bullied him into releasing children to her care for the journey to England. He handed over 600 children on condition that they had to leave by 10th December.

She succeeded with the help of committees, families and Jewish groups, and the 30-hour journey to the Hook of Holland saw the first large-scale evacuation to England via the North Sea crossing, Harwich to Liverpool Street Station. The evacuations continued until May 1940; the last boat leaving was the SS Bodegraven, taking 74 children across the North Sea.

Tante Truus, as she was known affectionately known (Auntie Truus), was offered safe passage with them, but she refused and chose to stay in her native Netherlands; moments after the boat left, the Dutch Government surrendered to Nazi occupation, and the ship docked in Liverpool on 19th May 1940.

Truus was arrested and interrogated many times and crossed the German border more than 50 times. In total, it is estimated that over 10,000 children were evacuated to safety, tantamount to her bravery and selfishness, all without the benefit of modern communications, which today, we seem to be unable to live without.

She survived the war and lived until August 1978, donating her body for scientific research; the notification following her death, she was described as the mother of 1001 children who made her job of saving Jewish children.

So as I set sail back to the UK after a month away, departing Hook Van Holland on the Stenaline through the long calm channel to join the North Sea, I take a moment to be thankful for the safety of my own daughter and for the tenacity of Tante Truus.

Not travelling overseas until age 19, this Venturing Nomad's work and life have taken her to just under 70 countries, with more adventures always planned. Twelve years as a Diplomat led to excitement and adventures across the globe, and she is now enjoying travelling with her young daughter and seeing the world afresh through her eyes.

A published author in fact and fiction, she firmly believes in the mantra "take only photos - leave only footprints". More of a feeder than a foodie, she has cooked her way around the globe, from the hill tribes in Thailand, Nonna's kitchen in Italy to the beachfront hotel in Morocco. There is always a story and, more importantly, a recipe.

You can contact her at [email protected]  or find out more on Instagram