Page 10 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - January 19

FACE TO FACE WITH WILLIAM
HENRY FONER
S hours. What they actually broadcast was perhaps
ome years ago Yad VaShem published my
book “Postcards to a Little Boy”. As a
result I am often asked to give talks about
the Kindertransport and my own personal
experiences. Thus I meet a variety of people
from all walks of life and from many countries. I
undertake these activities, which I find
emotionally difficult, because I feel that we
“survivors” have a duty to pass on what
happened to us whilst we are still able to do so. I
could fill many pages with the interesting and
sometimes even amusing incidents that occur,
but I think that chaverim might be interested in a
special meeting that occurred recently: I was
asked to meet HRH Prince William, the Duke of
Cambridge, during his recent visit to Israel. The
prince wanted to meet two people who had been
on the Kindertransport and I was chosen to be
one of them. The reason I was chosen was that
Yad VaShem published my book, Postcards to a
Little Boy, and they like to present it to visiting
dignitaries. The other Kind chosen was Paul
Alexander who is the youngest known
participant of the Kindertransport.
The adventure started off when I got a call from
th
Yad VaShem asking if I was free on 26 of
June. I asked what they wanted and was told
they would like me to meet Prince William for
an “intimate conversation” and present him with
my book. “Would I have time”? Well, of course
I would!
As the great day approached the media brouhaha
started. There were interviews with newspapers
(including Ha’aretz) and people like Reuters.
The craziest of these was NBC television from
the States. They sent two people to our house to
interview and film me. It took two and a half
10
10 seconds!
th
On the 26 June we were asked to be at Yad
VaShem at 9:30 a.m. The meeting was
scheduled at 11:00. Luckily there was no
problem of what to wear; I have only one suit so
that got taken out of the wardrobe and dusted
off. I went with my wife, Judy, and our daughter,
Naomi, and we hoped that they might get to
meet the Prince too – but that was not to be.
Whilst waiting we got to meet Paul and his
family and soon discovered that we had lived
and studied in Leeds and that we had lots of
friends in common. In fact, after the Prince left
we all went to have lunch together and we feel
we have made new friends as an added bonus to
the whole experience. There were a few more
TV and radio interviews before the meeting and
then we were taken to the private hall where we
were to meet the Prince.
In the meeting hall there were two upholstered
benches facing each other. After a few minutes
the Prince came in accompanied by Avner
Shalev the chairman of Yad VaShem who
introduced us and we sat down opposite each
other, knee to knee. There was a gaggle of
photographers who took pictures and who were
then shooed out so that we could talk more
comfortably. The Prince had obviously been
briefed and asked us what we remembered of the
journey and the whole conversation carried on
very naturally from there. The meeting was very
pleasant and informal; it was as if a friend of the
family had dropped in for a chat. Prince William
seemed really interested to talk to us and I was
honoured to be able to present him with a copy
of my book on behalf of Yad Vashem. He said he