Singapore executes Filipina maid and German child evacuees of World War Two

The History Hour

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the German children who were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two. You may find some of the content distressing.

Also we find out about the execution of Flor Contemplacion

Plus the creation of the 3000 km Te Ararora trail in New Zealand, the Dambusters raid and the story behind the popular children’s book, Pippi Longstocking.

Contributors: Gunter Stoppa and Klaus Reimer - German evacuee camp residents. This was taken from archive recordings from "Haus der Geschichte der Bundersrepublik Deutschland" in Bonn. Beate Muller - Professor of German Studies and Cultural History at Newcastle University, England Geoff Chapple who lobbied for the creation of the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand. Russel Contemplacion - Flor Contemplacion’s daughter Edre Olalia - Flor Contemplacion’s Lawyer George "Johnny" Johnson - the last survivor of the Dambusters squadron. Karin Nyman – Daughter of author Astrid Nyman

(Photo: Flor Contemplacion. Credit: Russel Contemplacion)

Transcript

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0:00.0	An original audio drama series from the BBC World Service, Fukushima tells the story of the 2011 disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.
0:12.0	We lose the Daiichi nuclear power plant. Then we lose Japan as we know it.
0:16.8	Listen to the series now by searching for Fukushima
0:19.8	wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:36.0	Hello and welcome to the History Hour Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson, the past brought to life by those who were there.
0:39.0	This week the long hard slog behind the making of a national walking trail in New Zealand.
0:44.0	The Governor General and I unveiled a plaque which had a little message on it from the
0:49.4	Maury Queen, walk the trail in peace, look deeply into the landscape and lure.
0:55.0	An execution in Singapore which caused outrage in the Philippines.
0:59.0	There were a lot of major, both Filipino and foreign correspondence,
1:03.8	meeting by the gate because they knew
1:06.2	that there was a countdown to the execution.
1:08.6	Plus, we'll be remembering the Dambusters raid
1:11.0	in the Second World War 80 years on.
1:13.7	And in fact that's where we're going to start the podcast this week in the Second World War,
1:17.5	but with a German perspective.
1:20.1	Some of their stories are distressing to hear.
1:22.9	From 1940 onwards, thousands of German children were evacuated to camps to avoid Allied bombs.
1:29.3	Children on both sides of the conflict were moved out of towns and cities which were likely to be targeted.
1:34.2	But whereas in Britain, for example, they were sent to the countryside to live with families who'd
1:38.5	take them in, in Germany thousands of children ended up in something more akin to barracks.
1:44.0	Here's Alex Collins.
	...

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