Catch up TV

Series 1: 4. George, Peter and Clare

In 1933, identical twin brothers George and Peter were born to a Jewish family in Berlin, six months after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Peter and George were close friends with the non-Jewish sons of their building's caretaker, Mr Schadler, and the four boys would play football together. But as the Nazi party steadily increased persecution against Jews, life for the family became very difficult. On Kristallnacht in November 1938, when thousands of Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps, Mr Schadler hid the twins' father Franz in the basement at great risk to his own safety. The following year, with just days to spare before the outbreak of war, Mr Schadler lent the family money to escape Berlin by train and come to London. Now 87 years old, Peter and George would love to reunite with their childhood friends and thank them for the great sacrifice their father made to ensure their family’s safety.\n \nWe also tell the story of Clare, who took in 21 refugee children - many of whom she was told were orphans - from war torn Bosnia. The local community in Elgin, Scotland rallied round to welcome them, but it was only when international schoolgirl Petra came to translate that the children were able to properly communicate and share what horrors they had fled. Petra not only gave the refugees a voice, but crucially she also uncovered the truth – that none of them were orphans and all had families they had been forced to leave behind. Clare then embarked upon a years-long battle to reunite the children with their families, many of whom still live locally in Scotland today. Now Clare wants to find Petra, in order to thank her for unlocking the truth and changing the course of the children’s lives.

Source: BBC 2