Finding Refuge

A popular history telling the stories of a varied group of people who found refuge in Wales from the scourge of National Socialism in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. The book is designed to resonate with those who have personal experience of similar situations, those looking to understand the refugee experience, young people investigating Welsh and European history and the stories of their ancestors, as well as the general history reader. The book will include a chapter a kind of historical postscript - on the experience of contemporary Syrian refugees. There are stories of child migrants, artists and doctors, and the inheritance of the second generation - of Gwrych Castle, where 200 young people were accommodated, of a school for Czech immigrants in Llanwrtyd Wells, of working in Llangollen and photographing the life of the Rhondda Valley, of love affairs and darker deeds. Their stories are harrowing and sad, but also funny and entertaining. In their own words, they paint a picture of their encounters with different Welsh people, and with Wales as a geographical place and a political entity.