Friday 13 November 2020

Bloomsbury

The Institute is delighted to announce that the audio walk ‘On the Trail of 1930s Refugees in Bloomsbury’ is now available.

Bloomsbury's cheap boarding houses and Bohemian reputation made the area a magnet for refugees from Nazi Europe, and it was from here that support for the refugees was coordinated. In turn the refuges contributed to the British anti-Nazi propaganda war, and activists plotting the downfall of the Nazis were spied on by MI5 agents.

The trail is c.2.5 miles and takes you from 89 New Oxford Street, the office of Austrian Self Aid, to the house near Great Ormond Street where Dora Fabian and Mathilde Wurm died in suspicious circumstances, via landmarks such as Bloomsbury House, a refugee support centre, and the National Hotel, where writer and artist Judith Kerr lived.

The audio recording brings to life the work of the Research Centre for German & Austrian Exile Studies, and is illustrated by voices from the IMLR’s exile archives. Devised and led by Miller Archivist, Clare George, there are contributions by Charmian Brinson and Gareth Williams.

Listen to the Audio Walk

Trail Map

The audio walk was created as part of the 2020 Being Human Festival, and is supported by the Martin Miller and Hannah Norbert-Miller Trust.