From East End to Land's End Paperback Edition

Author: Susan Soyinka

From East End to Land's End Paperback Edition

From East End to Land’s End is the heart-warming and inspiring story of the World War Two evacuation of Jews’ Free School (JFS) in the East End of London to Mousehole, a remote fishing village on the tip of Cornwall. In June 1940, around 100 JFS children and 5 of their teachers, together with thousands of other London evacuees, embarked on the lengthy and exhausting train journey from Paddington to Penzance. The JFS group was bussed to Mousehole, where the children were billeted with the villagers, and Jews’ Free School, Mousehole, was established in the premises of Mousehole School. Arrangements were made for synagogue services to be held in the church hall of a nearby village, while many of the evacuees also attended chapel with their foster families, most of whom were strong Methodists. Remarkably, most of the evacuees quickly integrated into village life, and were accepted by the villagers as their own. They were introduced to swimming, sailing, sculling, fishing, mending nets, and spent hours playing on the beach or walking along the spectacular coastal paths. The extraordinary coming together of these two vastly different communities was a life-changing experience for many involved on both sides. Seventy years on, some of them have been able to tell their stories, sometimes with tears, often with humour, and always with love and affection.