German Air Raid Shelter circa 1943

The subject of a documentary, _The Teacher Who Defied Hitler_, Leonore Goldschmidt was a German Jew and school teacher. She was fired from her job under German law because she was an "undesirable." She and husband responded by outmaneuvering the Nazi bureaucracy and opening a Jewish school in Berlin in 1935 to educate Jewish children. Though the school operated right in front of Nazi officials, the tone of the situation in Germany was not lost on her. The Goldschmidt Schule "became a refuge and a place of safety for hundreds of Jewish children." Further, aware of the need for her pupils to leave Germany, she began teaching them English. Golschmidt even was able to gain the help of an ex-teacher of her own, then a Nazi official, to forge a connection as an examination center with England's Cambridge University. Her school was included in the film work of Julien Bryan, who had to smuggle the film out of Germany. After the Kristallnacht the school was almost burned, but it she saved it by a ruse (no spoilers of how, in case you want to watch the film). The school in Berlin stayed open until September 1939. With the help of a British aid society, she was able to help "most" of her students flee to England as unaccompanied children -- but also meaning their parents were left behind. Goldschmidt herself was able to escape Germany, and she opened another school in England (it closed a few years afterwards, due to the war).

Leonore Goldschmidt (1897 - 1983)

Frau Merkel and her pal, Barney Schauble, have given Ireland a few beatings in recent times but, on 17 October, 1936, the boot was on the other foot when Ireland beat Germany 5-2 in a friendly international football (soccer) match at Dalymount Park, Dublin.  Here, members of the German team are seen giving the "German Greeting" in response to the playing of the National Anthems.  The lack of seating confirms the structure in the background as the School End "Shed" - ah, scene of many Sundays in my youth !  Still, politics follows you everywhere ... Best regards, JR.