Summary biography
Kurt came to the UK on the Kindertransport. Prior to that the Germans placed him and his family in Horalka Holiday Camp, using it as a refugee camp. They were then moved to a prison near Beroun. For many years Kurt had assumed that his parents were sent to Theresienstadt (Terezin) and then on to Auschwitch or similar. New information, researched by Kurt's son, Richard, indicates that they probably met their end at Belzec, which was a death camp. It is almost certain that they were gassed.
When Kurt was 18 he joined the RAF in England. He attained the rank of Flight Lieutenant. He was unique in that he was the only: Foreign, Jewish, Officer, Fighter Pilot, Flying Spitfires operationally, in the regular RAF,
Kurt's favourite Spitfire was a Mk 9, Serial number EN199, squadron markings WU-S. (WU = 225 Squadron; S for Sugar they called it). After the war it went to Malta where it continued flying in the Met Unit, and eventually found its way to the Malta Air Museum, where it has been restored and is on show.
RIP 2019
Artistic responses
2021 Festival overview & film
We worked across 5 areas, expanding geographically, from Birmingham and Coventry to include North Warwickshire, Liverpool and London.
