Story of family saving identical twins from the Shoah revealed in BBC doc

The heartfelt story of how a German family helped to save the lives of identical twins during the Second World War is revealed in BBC Two’s Saved By A Stranger.

Presented by Anita Rani, the series sets out to reunite people caught up in traumatic events with those who helped them to get through them.

In 1933, twins George and Peter Summerfield were born to a Jewish family in Berlin, six months after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. 

The young boys were close friends with the non-Jewish sons of their building’s caretaker, Mr Schädler, and all four would play football together. 

But as the Nazi party steadily increased persecution against Jews, life for the family became very difficult. 

On Kristallnacht, in 1938, when thousands of Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps, Schädler hid the twins’ father Franz in his basement, at great risk to his own safety. 

The following year, with just days to spare before the outbreak of war, Schädler lent the family money to escape Berlin by train and come to London. 

Now 87, George and Peter embark on a journey to be reunited with their childhood friends and to thank them for the great sacrifice their father made to ensure their safety and survival. 

The episode airs on Thursday, 20 May, 9pm on BBC Two