THE WHOLE Kuczynski family — parents and six children — managed to escape Germany shortly after Hitler’s rise to power. The father, Robert Rene, was forced to flee first after the Gestapo came looking for him.

His wife Berta, to begin with, stayed in Berlin with her three youngest daughters until, in 1934, she was able to sell the family home, albeit at a knock-down price. Jewish-owned properties were forcibly purchased or simply commandeered by “Aryan” Germans. After the sale, they left for Britain immediately.

Berta’s eldest son Jurgen and his wife Marguerite were now the only members of the family still remaining and faced the question of how to survive in Berlin, both financially as well as in terms of safety. Jurgen was working with the Communist Party which had by then been driven underground.