Werner Gembicki

Born: Hamburg, Germany, 25 November 1915

Profession in country of origin: Clerk

Arrived in Britain as a refugee from Germany in July 1939

Documents

Male enemy alien - Exemption from internment - Refugee
                                          
Surname: Gembicki
Forename: Werner Max
Alias: -
Date and place of birth: 25/11/1915 in Hamburg
Nationality: German
Police Regn. Cert. No.: 712463
Home Office ref: C3523
Adress: Kitchener camp, Richborough, Sandwich, Kent
Normal occupation: Clerk (Hide, skins)
Present occupation: 
Name and address of employer: -
Decision of tribunal: Exempted "C" Date 18.10.1939
Whether exempted from Article 6(A): yes
Whether desires to be repatriated: No

Richborough Camp Tribunal 2

Source: National Archives, Home Office: Aliens Department: Internees Index, 1939-1947

Editor’s note: We are not allowed to reproduce National Archives (UK) images, but we are permitted to reproduce the material from them, as shown above.

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Part of the ‘Werner and Vera Gamby Family Collection’, AR 25617, Box 1, Folder 48 at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York.

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The following List of Passengers from Rotterdam to New York, 22 November 1938, is held at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York and is reproduced here with the very kind permission of the LBI.

Part of the ‘Werner and Vera Gamby Family Collection’, AR 25617, Box 1, Folder 48 at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York.

All images reproduced here with the very kind permission of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, and the family of Werner Gembicki.

Letters

Editor’s note: the following letters are housed at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York; they are reproduced here with their very kind permission.

There are many more letters in the Gembicki collection at the Leo Baeck Institute and we encourage you to visit the collection either in person or online.

December 1938

February 1939

July 1939

August 1939

September 1939

October 1939

November 1939

English translation of the poem above, English translation by a Kitchener descendant:

1

The writings of Aristotle state,
That man is a social being.
As is the horse, the sheep, the bull
And other such herd animals.

2

Already in prehistoric times,
He seeks to avoid solitude
And from family, tribe and clan,
He was only snatched from the death of Hippe (? – she was the daughter of Centaur Chiron and Chariclo in Greek mythology if that makes sense)

3

So, first of all, there is no doubt
That society sustains man,
But it will now be necessary to explore
How he best fits in.

4

To test this difficult question,
We are particularly able,
We are indeed 3000 men at The Kitchener Camp,
It all depends on the individual there.

5

So enough, I falter here, I say it freely,
I’m going like the cat around the bush
I don’t need to prove at all,
What “zoon polikon” means (Trans. note: Aristotle’s definition of man as a political animal)

6

Such a wesep(?) are you guys,
What are rarely bothers and are usually pleased
What at work or play,
Always needed, and never too much.

7

So then let’s look around and see
If we are lucky enough
To end up finding a man here
Who combines the above gifts.

8

For whom no job is too much here,
Who puts his man in every game?
Who is skilful in English?
To whom does everyone go with translations in hand?
Who is the master of social arts?
In short, he’s called WERNER

9

He plays bridge, skat, rummy and chess,
He doesn’t care (?) about table tennis,
He swims like a fish around the craziest of water,
He playfully climbs the highest mountain.

10

English is quite fun for him,
I believe he also understands some Spanish
He also once practiced Latin
But today he likes French more

11

Marriage hasn’t been too bad either.
The valiant one calls his own,
A charming wife, a lovely son,
We shouldn’t enviously keep quiet about that.

12

Now I’m actually at the end,
So the main thing must still be said,
Dear Werner, on your birthday,
We wholeheartedly congratulate you.

13

That your wife and son in Baelde,
Tell you of the happy news from over there,
And that before March springs upon us,
You close (?) both of them to the heart

14

And may happiness flourish for you in the States,
Sometimes think back to Richborough,
And to your friends in a time of care,
We wish it had just happened/it was time (??)

15

And, as is tradition, we call,
Long live the birthday boy.


Kitchener Camp, 25th November, 1939
Hut 36/2

Dr Max Hamburger
Josef Heumann
Herbert Mosheim
Ernst Levy
Alex Flechtheim
Fritz Eckstein

December 1939

January 1940

February 1940

March 1940

November 1940

Memories

The following is a typescript of the memories of Werner Gembicki (later, Gamby) – from his childhood in Hamburg, his imprisonment in Sachsenhausen, his residence in Kitchener camp, his emigration to the USA, and his family’s postwar life.

Photographs

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