0:00:02 > 0:00:04The British people have spoken, and the answer is, "We're out".
0:00:04 > 0:00:08As the country waits to discover how the future will unfold
0:00:08 > 0:00:10after the referendum,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13thousands of Brits are applying for dual nationality
0:00:13 > 0:00:15to remain citizens of the EU.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Because their ancestors fled the Nazis, many British Jews
0:00:19 > 0:00:22are discovering they are entitled to a German passport.
0:00:22 > 0:00:2770,000 Jews came from Germany between 1933 and 1939.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Very few of them were at all interested
0:00:30 > 0:00:33in applying for German citizenship until the Brexit vote.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36It's a dilemma dividing the British Jewish community,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39as it means reconnecting to the country associated with the trauma
0:00:39 > 0:00:41of the Holocaust.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I'd never even contemplated becoming German.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Why? Why do you want that?
0:00:47 > 0:00:50We kept walking on bones and broken glass wherever you walk.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54The possibility of applying for a German passport is leading some
0:00:54 > 0:00:57to delve deeper into their family history.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I need to go to Germany to get closure on the death of my grandparents,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05and to try and help me along this path of decision-making.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09In this film, we're following three British Jews as they decide whether
0:01:09 > 0:01:13dual citizenship with a German passport is right for them.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16To suddenly be learning about my family history,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20but also reclaiming it, in a way, and becoming German,
0:01:20 > 0:01:21it's very strange.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Ladies and gentlemen, it's a privilege for me
0:01:33 > 0:01:35to be with you today to share with you the moment
0:01:35 > 0:01:38when you become citizens of the United Kingdom.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43In his role as Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, retired businessman
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Robert Voss awards new Brits citizenship.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48He has come full circle.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52His parents only became British subjects 80 years ago.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56My parents both escaped Nazi Germany.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58But, unfortunately, my grandparents
0:01:58 > 0:02:01and other members of the family perished.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06I have the option of applying for German citizenship
0:02:06 > 0:02:09through my parents,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13but it's something that I'm struggling to come to terms with.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16When I mentioned it to some of my family they said that my late father
0:02:16 > 0:02:17would turn in his grave.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Baroness Julia Neuberger is one of the country's most prominent Jews.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I support this amendment very strongly.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30She's part of the rise in
0:02:30 > 0:02:33British Jewish applications for German citizenship
0:02:33 > 0:02:37from around 20 each year to 800 since last June.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Julia believes it is possible to reconnect to Germany
0:02:40 > 0:02:43without undermining her British identity.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45All four of my grandparents were born in Germany.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49My mother first came in 1937 as a domestic servant to Britain.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51She was fleeing the Nazis.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I'm British and proudly so.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56And I'm Jewish.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58I'm a passionate European.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01I'm a rabbi, but I'm also a peer, a member of the House of Lords.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I have multiple identities.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06I would argue most people have multiple identities, and actually,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09I think it's wrong to say you can only have one identity.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Although Brexit was the trigger,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14for some the actions of modern Germany
0:03:14 > 0:03:17have been changing perceptions for years.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20I decided to apply for a German passport for a mixture of reasons.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22One was the Brexit vote,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26but actually my views on Germany were changing.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30I think having taken a million migrants, refugees,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Angela Merkel, obviously, recognising the nation's past,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36I think that made a difference to an awful lot of us.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Come in.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42So, let's go up to my study where I have quite a number of documents.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Particularly since my mother, unfortunately, passed away.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Traumatised by their own experiences,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Robert's parents did not discuss the fate of his grandparents.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56To decide if he feels comfortable with German citizenship,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58he wants to know how they died,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and so has been pulling together the family archive.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04This is one of the only photos of my grandparents,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Alfrieda and Ferdinand together.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11I'm guessing this was about the early '30s,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14probably just about the time that Hitler came to power.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18They look like a normal, happy couple.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Now, I understand my grandfather served in the first World War,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24for Germany, of course.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28They must have been, and felt, German through and through.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30To the best of my knowledge,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33I don't know when my father found out about the fate of his parents.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38And still, to this day, we don't know exactly what happened to them.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43I feel I owe them a duty to find out what happened, and if necessary,
0:04:43 > 0:04:45to be able to say a prayer for them.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51So this is my father's little cousin, Karla,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53who was absolutely beautiful.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01This photo was taken in 1929, when I would say she's probably about two.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05And all it says on the back...
0:05:07 > 0:05:09..is Richard's little cousin, Karla.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10Killed by the Nazis.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13I don't know how.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16Or when.
0:05:20 > 0:05:21Robert is feeling the weight
0:05:21 > 0:05:25of his ancestors' tragic history on his shoulders.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Immediately after Brexit it came out that I was eligible,
0:05:29 > 0:05:30because of my parents.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33The one question I ask myself again and again and again is
0:05:33 > 0:05:35what would my father have felt?
0:05:36 > 0:05:40My initial reaction was under no circumstances.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44But it's an insurance policy in case, heaven forbid,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46something should happen in future.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50If my grandparents had thought about this in the end of the '20s,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52they would have turned around at that stage and said,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55"What on earth could ever happen to us?"
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Ten years, 12 years later...
0:05:59 > 0:06:00..they were dead.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04To find out what his father never wanted to discuss,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Robert's contacting the Wiener Library,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Britain's largest Holocaust archive,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12to see if he can find out how his grandparents died.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14Ferdinand Voss.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Place of birth, which I know, Monchengladbach.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23And now I will submit.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Hopefully, they'll come up with some interesting answers.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Hilary Freeman, an author and agony aunt
0:06:33 > 0:06:36at the Jewish Chronicle newspaper,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39intends to claim her right to German citizenship.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45My entire family has histories from Europe.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48My mother's parents were refugees from Hitler.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Hilary is on the way to her mother's house
0:06:51 > 0:06:54to explain why she wants a German passport.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58I do feel a little bit conflicted, applying for a German passport,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02given what, you know, the Germans did to my family.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04I was brought up to regard Germany as...
0:07:05 > 0:07:08..a place that wasn't a good place,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12that the people there were not good people.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14To qualify, she'll need to prove her heritage.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17It's a difficult process for her mother.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18All right, what this time?
0:07:18 > 0:07:19The trains were late.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23She feels uneasy about her daughter's plans.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26So, you told me that you've got these documents.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31Yes, but I'm wondering what is going to be in them, because Saba,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35unfortunately, got rid of nearly everything,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39wanting to just rid themselves of anything to do with Germany.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42So do you want to see what's what?
0:07:42 > 0:07:44The documents help Hilary and her mother
0:07:44 > 0:07:46piece together their family tree.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Hilary's grandfather, Siegfried Baruch,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51fled to Britain in 1939.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Wanting a fresh start, he changed his name to Sidney Brooke.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59His mother, Hedwig, died shortly after he left Germany.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01The rest of the family were deported.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- So that's Saba's mother? - That's Saba's mother.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04That's Hedwig?
0:08:04 > 0:08:06That's Hedwig, but that, of course,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09is with the headstone at the cemetery.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12In Krefeld.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16I mean, all one can say, she was spared the camps and being shot.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19- Yes.- Which is what happened to all your other grandparents.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22If Hilary is to apply for a German passport,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24she wants to deal with her upbringing.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29You brought me up feeling very anti-German, like, even like,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33you know, the idea of having a German car or a German fridge,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36or going to Germany was a no-no.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39That was really passed on, initially,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43um... your grandparents wouldn't have anything German in the house.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45They'd said you shouldn't have a German car.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Unsurprisingly, Hilary's mother is not keen on the idea
0:08:49 > 0:08:51of a German passport.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54I think my immediate reaction was, how on earth could you do
0:08:54 > 0:08:59something when your grandparents had escaped from Germany,
0:08:59 > 0:09:05which had been so vile, come here, lived here, made their lives here.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I just thought, why, of all countries,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10would you want to go back there?
0:09:15 > 0:09:20Across London, Robert has heard from Mary Vrabacz at the Wiener Library,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23who's found some information on his grandparents.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- Hello. - Hello, I'm Robert Voss.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29Perfect. Welcome. Come right in.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30Thank you very much.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35Mary, I know very little about my father's family.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38He never really spoke about his experiences in Germany,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40about his parents in Germany.
0:09:40 > 0:09:41We knew nothing as children.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43- OK.- And we didn't dare ask.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47The first question is, basically, what happened to my grandparents?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50We hold a copy of an archive that is actually located in Germany,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54and this archive was created after the war, basically,
0:09:54 > 0:09:55as the Allies came through Europe.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58They gathered up whatever material they could find.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01I've been able to do some research on your family,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04- and let's walk through and see what we've got.- Right.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Mary's records illustrate the development of anti-Semitism
0:10:08 > 0:10:10under the Nazis.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14At first, intimidation and extortion caused many to emigrate.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17But some, like Robert's grandparents, refused to believe
0:10:17 > 0:10:20the situation could get any worse.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24By the time war broke out in 1939, those Jews still in Germany and
0:10:24 > 0:10:29those now under Nazi occupation faced an even greater threat.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Jews were forced into ghettos.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34There were mass killings,
0:10:34 > 0:10:39and in 1941, Hitler began his plan to eradicate all the Jews of Europe,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41known as the Final Solution.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Robert's grandparents, like millions across Europe,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50faced deportation to the death camps.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54One of the first things that I found, unfortunately,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58was the transport list of when they were deported from Monchengladbach.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02According to this list, they were deported on the 15th of June,
0:11:02 > 0:11:03in 1942.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Sorry to interrupt, were they deported together?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08They were deported together.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11You can see here, this is your grandmother's name right here,
0:11:11 > 0:11:12and there's her birthday.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14And here's Ferdinand, right below it.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16So they were together on that transport.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20And the obvious next question is, what was the destination?
0:11:20 > 0:11:26The destination on the original transport list is listed as Izbica,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Poland, which was a smaller town on the eastern side of Poland.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33But in actuality, the train didn't make it to Izbica.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38It went straight to Sobibor, which is a death camp.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44And there's no known survivors from this transport, unfortunately.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Is there any way we can track
0:11:46 > 0:11:48what happened to them when they got to Sobibor?
0:11:48 > 0:11:50How long they stayed alive?
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Unfortunately, there's no surviving records from Sobibor.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57But the way that the camp was set up,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59as cars arrived,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01they were unloaded quickly
0:12:01 > 0:12:03and people were taken straight to their death, unfortunately.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06There was no facilities to hold people.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10So they would have perished within a few hours of their arrival.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24Julia believes modern Jews can overcome the horrors of the past
0:12:24 > 0:12:26and forge new links to Germany.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29She's come to the World Jewish Relief,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33the organisation set up to cater for refugees fleeing the Nazis,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35to see if others agree.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Harry came to Britain in 1939,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42aged just seven on board the children's transport,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47or Kindertransport, which saw Britain rescue 10,000 children
0:12:47 > 0:12:48from Nazi territories.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52He feels very strongly about reclaiming German citizenship.
0:12:52 > 0:12:58I was appalled that anybody would wish to be,
0:12:58 > 0:13:03to have a passport from the people who not only threw them out,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06but murdered six million Jewish...
0:13:06 > 0:13:08I know. A lot of people feel as you do,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12even though the people who did are that longer alive.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17And the people who are alive now are coming to terms with it.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21- I agree...- Hang on. I don't believe you can forgive.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24The only people who can forgive are the victims, and they're dead.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27But it is about a form of reconciliation.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32Sure. For myself, I would certainly not wish to apply.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Why? Why do you want that?
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Because I want what was taken away from my mother.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41So that seems to me a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44I think it's also fair to say that post-Brexit,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47I want to claim my European ancestry,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50because all four of my grandparents were born in Germany.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51And that's quite important to me.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53But the most important of all
0:13:53 > 0:13:58is that Germany has, in coming to terms with its past,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01been extremely generous to refugees and migrants.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04And that has made me feel very, very differently about Germany.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08I didn't feel like this as a younger woman. I do now.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Richard Ferber from World Jewish Relief
0:14:10 > 0:14:12has seen many of these debates.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14I can definitely see it both ways.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17My grandma was on the Kindertransport.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21And on the one hand, I'm fascinated in finding out what life was like
0:14:21 > 0:14:23for her in the north of Germany in Friedrichstadt.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27On the other hand, I'm appalled, because this is a country who,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30political leaders in the 1930s and '40s wiped out,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32not just six million Jews, of course,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35but millions of people with disabilities, gay people and so on.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37So I can certainly see it both ways.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41British Jews who are eligible remain divided on whether the scars of the
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Holocaust are too much to overcome.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Whilst applications are increasing,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48numbers applying remain relatively small.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Before he decides whether or not to apply for German citizenship,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Robert wants to discover more about how his grandparents were treated.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01He has come to Monchengladbach in Germany,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03the town of his father's birth.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Feeling uneasy about returning, he has asked Gunter,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11his father's first cousin, who fled the town in 1937, to join him.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15They have come to the city archives, where Gerd Lammers has found
0:15:15 > 0:15:17evidence in the city's property records
0:15:17 > 0:15:20that Robert's grandparents moved address unexpectedly
0:15:20 > 0:15:22just a few months before deportation.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29So why would they have moved to... Is this Hindenburgstrasse?
0:15:29 > 0:15:34It was a house with many Jewish persons.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- OK. So they moved from their own property...- Indeed.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39..where they lived by themselves?
0:15:39 > 0:15:43- Yes. Forced.- In February, they were forced to move
0:15:43 > 0:15:47to a multi-occupancy house with many families,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51before deportation in June 1942.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53That you can see here -
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Ferdinand Voss, and in June, 1942,
0:15:58 > 0:15:59to Poland.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03- Goodness me.- We know it was Izbica.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08Only we've now found out it wasn't Izbica,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10- they ended up in Sobibor.- Yes.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12As Gunter knew Robert's father,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Robert is hoping he may be able to help him make his decision
0:16:15 > 0:16:18about whether to apply for a German passport.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Hearing all this,
0:16:22 > 0:16:27I think that would be the same nationality as the people
0:16:27 > 0:16:30who did such terrible things.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32What would my father have thought?
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Because that's really the question I'm trying to ask myself.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40For your father, it was too near in years
0:16:40 > 0:16:44to go back to Germany.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47But you are the next generation.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49It's many years ago.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54I think he would understand that you would make this choice.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Hilary has never been to Germany before.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Now keen to learn more about her heritage, she's on the trail of her
0:17:02 > 0:17:04grandfather's family.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08She has arrived in Krefeld, 20km north of Monchengladbach.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16It feels strange to be on a street where my grandfather might have
0:17:16 > 0:17:19come and might have walked down at some point.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23He might even have come to this house, that's the Villa Merlander,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25which is now the archive
0:17:25 > 0:17:28and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Krefeld.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31She has come to meet Burkhard Ostrowski,
0:17:31 > 0:17:32a local historian
0:17:32 > 0:17:35who's been researching her grandfather's family.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39He has found that Hilary's great-grandparents met in Krefeld,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42and that Hedwig Baruch died just a few weeks after
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Hilary's grandfather fled to England.
0:17:44 > 0:17:45Eduard was left alone.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- TRANSLATION:- Eduard was forced into a Jewish house,
0:17:50 > 0:17:55and there he met Frieda Coppel, who he married in 1941.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58So they weren't together for very long at all?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01No, and in October 1941,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05the deportation started in Germany and in Krefeld.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09They were on the second deportation to the Riga ghetto.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The Nazis told them they were going to work in the East.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17The Riga ghetto was established in 1941.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20It was the site of several terrible atrocities,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24and Hilary's great-grandfather was among 50,000 Jews murdered
0:18:24 > 0:18:28by the Nazis there before it was closed in 1943.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33What happened to Frieda? Did she get shot too?
0:18:33 > 0:18:36- TRANSLATION:- She amazingly survived Riga.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41But as the Russian army approached, she was forced into another
0:18:41 > 0:18:42concentration camp.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46So what happened to most of the people there?
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Mostly, the people were murdered.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Some were sent to Auschwitz.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53But we don't know exactly what happened to Frieda.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55But she didn't survive.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Burkhard has a surprise for Hilary.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03The town wants to commemorate her family's history.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Here in Germany we have something called the stumbling stones,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10where you walk along, and can see where the Jews once lived,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12to ensure they are remembered.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16We've planned to place a stone next year, to commemorate Sidney,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18your grandfather, and Eduard,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22your great-grandfather, in front of the house where they once lived.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24That's lovely, thank you.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- So there'll be a permanent memorial to them.- Quite, yes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Until her stone is in place,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Hilary's most tangible link to the past is somewhere in this graveyard.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Professor Michael Brocke is helping her find her great-grandmother's
0:19:40 > 0:19:42final resting place.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Is it down here? I think it might be down this one.
0:19:44 > 0:19:45I'm not very good at map reading.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49I think it's one, two, three, four, five... Seventh.
0:19:49 > 0:19:50I think it should be over there.
0:19:52 > 0:19:53There.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Hedwig. This is my great-grandmother.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04It looks like no-one's really looked after it for a long, long time.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I think I'd like to just clean it up a bit,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10move some of the leaves out of the way.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13It's really nice to have a real connection with my family.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18It's incredibly sad as well.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23I mean, she died in October 1939, which is just...
0:20:25 > 0:20:29..a month after my grandad left Germany.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33And they say, the family say, she died of a broken heart
0:20:33 > 0:20:36with everything that was going on around her.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40- She wasn't very old? - The same age as I am now.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Do you mind if I just have a minute on my own, just to...
0:20:45 > 0:20:47..stand here?
0:20:47 > 0:20:48Please?
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Robert's grandparents were deported in 1942.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02He is retracing that journey to Dusseldorf,
0:21:02 > 0:21:07and has asked Joachim Schroeder, a Holocaust historian, to join him.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The fate of his cousin Karla is playing on his mind.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Joachim, can I ask you, I have a picture of a beautiful young girl,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18who is my...
0:21:18 > 0:21:21My father's little cousin, Karla.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25It says on the back, in my mother's handwriting, "Killed by the Nazis."
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Do you know anything about little Karla?
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Indeed, I made a research,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34and I found her name also on the deportation list.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37- From?- From Dusseldorf.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- From Dusseldorf. - And to Izbica as well.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44They perhaps, stayed some weeks there, perhaps only one week,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47perhaps two weeks. It's not known.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50And then they were deported to Belzec, or Sobibor.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54It's sure that she died...
0:21:57 > 0:21:59..because nobody survived who was deported to Izbica.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04So we know what happened to little Karla.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08It's difficult for me...
0:22:10 > 0:22:11..to get...
0:22:20 > 0:22:23To get the feeling what it must be like to know you're on your way
0:22:23 > 0:22:25to your death.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28And looking out the window for the last time.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Really unimaginable.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Keen to discover her German history prior to the Holocaust,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Hilary has traced her family back to the town of Frechen.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48To discover how deep her roots go, she's come to the city archive.
0:22:48 > 0:22:54So I've learned that my great-great-grandfather Isaac Baruch
0:22:54 > 0:23:00came from Frechen, so what can you tell me about my family here?
0:23:00 > 0:23:02My family history?
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Yes, the first Baruch who came to Frechen was Feisel Baruch.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12So that's my great-great great-great-grandparents?
0:23:12 > 0:23:13That's correct.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18The ancestors on the mother's side -
0:23:18 > 0:23:22the Levys is the oldest family in Frechen.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23- Right.- Jewish family.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26- My family is the oldest Jewish family in Frechen?- Yes.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29They've been here since the 18th century?
0:23:29 > 0:23:31- Yes.- At least.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37In a sad end to Robert's journey, Joachim shows him the place
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Karla spent her final night in Germany.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45Now a library, in 1942 it was a cattle slaughterhouse
0:23:45 > 0:23:48used to gather Jews before deportation.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51A memorial has been established in a side chamber.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Walter, Robert, nice to meet you.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Here, Joachim introduces Robert to a British rabbi
0:23:56 > 0:23:58who now lives in Germany.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Moving from England to Germany was quite important.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05My father was from Germany, a refugee in 1939, aged 16,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07sent by his parents, like some of the people here.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- Exactly.- So for me, it felt like a circle was closing.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12I was offered a job in Berlin. One Walter Rothschild
0:24:12 > 0:24:16had to leave Germany, another Walter Rothschild came back.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20But how do you feel as a Jew living in Germany,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23knowing full well, better than most people,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25what happened a generation ago?
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Being a rabbi in Germany, there is an enormous amount of focus on the
0:24:29 > 0:24:31past and on death. I must say, there are times I can cope,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33and there are times when it really gets to you.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38- I'm sure.- You are walking on bones and broken glass wherever you walk.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42The only answer I can give you, although it's difficult,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45is that when you study the history, no country had clean hands.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47The Americans wouldn't let people in,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49the British wouldn't let people in.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Some people did get in, and some were not - Kindertransports allowed,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54other people were kept away.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56I'm not a loyal German,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58but one thing Jews have always learned from the past,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00it's always important to have flexibility.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03I want my children to be able to continue living where they are.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07I think we need to learn from that for current refugee situations as well.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10People can't help being homeless. People can't help being stateless.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13My grandfather was a judge, a pillar of society,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15he fought for the Kaiser in the First World War.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18- As did mine, yeah. - He lost his job in '33.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21He was beaten over the head in Dachau in '38,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23and he died stateless in Switzerland.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Coming back to Germany gives me the chance to rebuild a little bit.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29There is no simple black and white answer.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35So I'd like, now, to show you the basement of the memorial,
0:25:35 > 0:25:40and we are going downstairs, the steps, where the deportees
0:25:40 > 0:25:44- had to walk.- And then, if you wish, we'll do a little ceremony,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- a little Kaddish. - Thank you very much.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53HE RECITES PRAYER
0:26:06 > 0:26:09PRAYER CONTINUES
0:26:16 > 0:26:18PRAYER CONTINUES
0:26:24 > 0:26:27HE RECITES PRAYER
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Robert is heading home to think about whether he should apply
0:26:42 > 0:26:44for German citizenship.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Hilary wants to spend a final morning
0:26:49 > 0:26:51in her ancestral town of Frechen.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57I think my grandad would be really pleased that I've done this,
0:26:57 > 0:27:03that I've seen his mother's grave, and I've seen where he came from.
0:27:03 > 0:27:04Cos I think it was
0:27:04 > 0:27:09always really important to him to tell us about his life here.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14And he is somebody that I knew very well,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and it just makes it much more personal.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19Sorry.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Yeah.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Getting a German passport, before I came to Germany,
0:27:25 > 0:27:30was just purely something I was doing for kind of pragmatic reasons.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33And I do feel, now that I've been here, and I've met people,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and I've seen the grave of my great-grandmother,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38that does mean a lot to me now.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40And I do feel a connection with Germany
0:27:40 > 0:27:41in a way that I didn't before.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45The people of this town, probably in a lot of places in Germany,
0:27:45 > 0:27:52are so keen to make amends for what happened in the Holocaust,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56and to show that they do care about the Jews and they do want to say
0:27:56 > 0:27:58sorry for what happened.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01It just makes me even more keen to have a German passport.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Not so much cos I want to be German,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06but because I am everywhere in Europe,
0:28:06 > 0:28:07I'm from everywhere.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15In the two weeks since I've been back from Germany, I've been lying
0:28:15 > 0:28:19awake virtually every night thinking about what I found out,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21and what I'm going to do.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25I certainly can never overcome my past, my history. However, it was
0:28:25 > 0:28:30very interesting and inspiring to meet somebody like Joachim
0:28:30 > 0:28:35and it showed me that the next generation have a desire, really,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38to heal any wounds that are still left open.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42I still feel as though I'm mourning.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45And therefore, it would be difficult to walk in tomorrow to the
0:28:45 > 0:28:48German embassy and ask to take up German nationality.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Hilary, Robert and Julia's journeys of discovery have led each to their
0:28:55 > 0:28:59own conclusions. Despite seeing how some cannot accept her decision to
0:28:59 > 0:29:04reconnect to Germany, Julia still wishes to reclaim citizenship.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09Germans can't, if you like, get rid of guilt.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12And Jews, like me, can't forgive.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16But what there can be is a coming to terms,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19coming to some form of reconciliation.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Hilary has begun a new relationship with Germany, thanks, in part,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29to the efforts of modern Germans to commemorate the past.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32I'm going to get my German passport.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36And, who knows, next time I come to visit Frechen,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38perhaps I'll be a German citizen.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42With everything he now knows, Robert has decided to put his application
0:29:42 > 0:29:47- on hold.- I don't know whether I can ever reconnect to the country of my
0:29:47 > 0:29:52heritage, a country which murdered my grandparents, little Karla,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54and six million others.
0:29:54 > 0:30:00It's very difficult to imagine that I could ever reconnect to Germany,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and maybe the family has now moved on,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05and we are British through and through.