Englische Austauschschüler im Jugendheim Lorbach: Die Suche nach Zeitzeugen

Hubert Schmitz, Lorbach (HSL): Die Veröffentlichung des folgenden Suchtextes am 29. September 2011 veranlasste der 87-jährige Mr Harold Nash in der Wochenzeitschrift "The Redditsch & Alcaster Standard" auf meine Bitte hin. Es ergab sich eine überraschende Resonanz.
Das Hauptaugenmerk in den Antwortbriefen früherer Schüler liegt zwangsläufig auf der Person des Dr. Martin Deutschkron, ihrem Lehrer. Allerdings geben die Briefe auch interessante Auskünfte über das Leben in unserer Region und Einzelinformationen über das Jugendheim in Lorbach und über den Ort Lorbach. Sie lassen viele Rückschlüsse auf die Situation der damaligen Zeit zu.

Harald Nash übrigens war auch Lehrer an der "Redditch County High School (RCHS) und kannte Dr. Deutschkron aus den vielen Jahren der gemeinsamen Tätigkeit. Er blieb Dr. Deutschkron bis zu dessen Tode (Oktober 1982) sehr eng verbunden.

Der Zeitungsartikel:
Exchange trip teacher included in book

Quelle: Geoff Berkeley, The Redditsch & Alcaster Standards", 26 September 2011. 

A FORMER Redditch teacher, who is said to have pioneered foreign exchange trips for pupils, is set to be included in a book detailing the history of the German town he used to link up with.

Dr Martin Deutschkron, who taught at the County High School - now Trinity High School - between 1947 and 1969, is set to play an ‘important part’ in Hubert Schmitz’s book about the history of Lorbach, north west of Frankfurt.
The German author is currently trying to piece together information about the teacher, who contacted Wythall resident Harold Nash for help in gathering information after seeing a letter he had published in The Standard regarding Dr Deutschkron.
Mr Nash, who was a close friend of Dr Deutschkron until his death in October 1982, told the Standard: "He was a great pioneer and a fantastic man.He was a public spirited man - a man of some international standing and because of his past history and his energetic undertaking to bring the two countries back together again, so I believe he will play a most important part, certainly, in the history of that book."
Born in Betsche, Kreis Meseritz in 1893, Martin went on to gain a PhD in German and French with Latin at the University of Berlin.
Beginning his teaching career in 1918, he became a senior teacher at the Luisen Oberlyzeum Grammar School in Berlin-Mitte in 1931.
As a Jew, a supporter of trade union and a member of the Social Democratic party, he was what Mr Nash called 'everything Hitler detested' but after plenty of campaigning to try and keep himself in his homeland, he was eventually forced to emigrate to England in 1939, leaving his wife Eva and his daughter Inge behind to hide.
He started out teaching as the Assistant Master at King Edward in Birmingham from 1940, he finally moved to Redditch in 1947, where he taught full time until 1968 and part-time until 1969.
During that period, he managed to draw up a connection with a school in Cologne, where a group of students used to swap once a year to gain a strong sense of the language and culture of Germany.
The association with Lorbach comes after the teacher used the old army barracks there, which became a country hostel soon after the war, where children used to go.
Mr Nash is now hoping people who know more about Dr Deutschkron will contact him on 01564 822538 so he can pass the information on to Mr Schmitz to help towards the book.

"Returning from the Kakus caves" (Titled by Dr. Deutschkron)

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