National Portrait Gallery acquires Kinder portraits inspired by Warner Bros film
President of Royal Society of Photography presents two pictures to NPG Permanent Collection
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
The National Portrait Gallery in London has acquired two portraits of Kindertransporte refugees from a series made by photographer Simon Hill, a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. The photographs will be held in the gallery’s Permanent Collection.
The portraits, of Alfred Dubs (the Right Honourable Baron Dubs of Battersea, born 1932) and of Vera Scaufeld MBE (born Vera Lowyova, 1930), were made for Warner Brothers Pictures in October 2023.
They were commissioned by Warner Brothers Pictures to celebrate the European première of the film One Life (directed by James Hawes) at the 2023 London Film Festival.
The film, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Flynn, tells the true story of Sir Nicholas Winton MBE, the British stockbroker and humanitarian who rescued 669 children, mainly Jewish, at risk of being murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
The portraits, together with those of nine other Kindertransporte refugees taken by Hill, were first seen in December 2023 at a special event hosted by Warner Brothers Pictures at the National Portrait Gallery and were subsequently included in an online exhibition hosted by the gallery and created in partnership with Warner Brothers Pictures to coincide with the release of One Life.
Simon Hill said: “It has been an immense honour to create photographic portraits of the Kindertransporte refugees who, in 1938, fled the persecution of the Nazis and sought safety in Britain. I hope my portraits have captured their remarkable character, hinting at their stories of survival, and celebrating the profound contribution each has made to British society.
‘”The portraits of Alf Dubs and Vera Scaufeld, acquired by the National Portrait Gallery for its Permanent Collection, will ensure the legacy of these individuals, as representatives of all the Kindertransporte refugees, is preserved for generations to come. Their inclusion reflects the deep respect and gratitude Britain holds for these refugees, whose resilience and determination has enriched the cultural, intellectual, and humanitarian fabric of the country.”
Clare Freestone, the NPG curator of photography, said: “We are delighted that these two portraits from Simon Hill’s portfolio of Kindertransporte refugees are entering our Permanent Collection. Behind the contemplative photographs of Lord Alfred Dubs and Vera Scofield, captured sensitively by Simon, are two moving and inspirational lives”.
In January 2021, Simon Hill was elected president of the Royal Photographic Society and is the longest serving president since the late 1800s.
Alfred Dubs was aged just six when he travelled on one of Winton’s Kindertransporte refugee trains from Prague, in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, to England. He became a Labour politician and a leading human rights campaigner advocating for refugee rights. He was MP for Battersea (1979-87), serving four years as Shadow Home Office minister. In 2016, he sponsored an amendment (later known as the Dubs Amendment) to the Immigration Act 2016, affording safe passage to Britain for children stranded in Europe; reflecting his own journey as a six-year-old child refugee.
Vera Scaufeld was born in Prague and spent most of her childhood in the town of Klatovy. Her mother was a doctor and her father was a lawyer and prominent figure in the Jewish community. Concerned for Vera’s safety following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, they sent her to England on the Kindertransporte. Vera never saw her parents again as both perished in the Holocaust. In Britain, Vera trained as a teacher and devoted herself to working with refugees. In 2018, she was made an MBE for services to Holocaust education and in 2019 received an honorary degree from the University of Roehampton.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
