From Kristallnacht to Kindertransport: The Journey of Stephen (Werner) Kates
Stephen Kates was born in Germany in 1928 and grew up in a small town where everyone knew one another. His family ran a general store, lived simply, and maintained close relationships with their neighbors. His childhood was unremarkable in the best way—until antisemitism made normal life impossible.
By the time he was school-aged, Stephen was already being rejected and isolated simply for being Jewish. His Jewish school in Gießen stood next to a synagogue, and he traveled there daily by train. On November 9, 1938—Kristallnacht—he arrived to find the school and synagogue burning. He was told to turn around. He never attended school in Germany again.
After Kristallnacht, the destruction of Jewish businesses and synagogues made clear that Jewish life in Germany was no longer possible. His aunt arranged for him to be placed on a Kindertransport—the rescue effort that brought Jewish children out of Nazi territory. Stephen traveled alone to Amsterdam, where he lived in a hostel with other refugee children under the care of Dutch Jewish families and volunteers, including a woman named Mrs. Weissmuller.
His parents could not leave Germany. Visas were scarce, and Nazi restrictions made escape nearly impossible. Stephen never saw them again.
When Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, the refuge in Holland collapsed. Mrs. Weissmuller acted quickly, securing buses to a port near Amsterdam and getting the children onto a ship—the SS Bodegraven—bound for England. As the ship sailed, German planes attacked. Refugees were forced to lie flat on the deck as bombs fell. Several German aircraft were shot down, and the ship eventually reached safety.
Stephen landed in England, lived briefly in Wigan, and then moved to Manchester, where he stayed with other Jewish refugee children. He rebuilt his life there, learning English and waiting for word about his family—news that never came.
After the war, he emigrated to the United States, served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and officially changed his name to Stephen Kates. He married, built a family, and created a life far removed from the violence that uprooted his childhood.
Decades later, his son returned to Stephen’s hometown and met an elderly neighbor who had witnessed the deportation of Stephen’s grandparents. She described watching helplessly from her window as the Germans took them away. Her memories underscored a painful truth—ordinary people often saw what was happening but felt powerless to stop it.
Stephen’s story is one of survival, rescue, and rebuilding—but also of irrevocable loss. His testimony preserves the memory of those who did not escape and ensures that the history of small-town Jewish families destroyed during the Holocaust is not forgotten.