In Memoriam Hella Pick

Hella Pick, veteran journalist for the British Guardian and Wiesenthal biographer, has passed away at the age of 96. Born in Vienna in 1927, Hella escaped Austria on a Kindertransport, arriving in England after the “Anschluss” of Austria to the German Reich. She studied political science at the renowned London School of Economics and worked as a journalist from the 1950s onwards, including for the BBC and the Guardian until the 1990s.

In December last year, Hella Pick was invited by the Austrian Parliament to participate in the event Zikaron BaSalon, “remebrance in the living room”, where she spoke about her flight from Austria aboard the Kindertransport, her life and her experiences. The Kindertransport was a rescue operation that helped around 10,000 Jewish children escape the German Reich to England. December 2023 marked the 85^th anniversary of the first Kindertransport.

Hella Pick was decorated numerous times: in 2023 she received the Golden Cross of Merit of the City of Vienna, she was awarded the Golden Cross of Honour of the Republic of Austria and Commander of the British Empire. After Brexit, she regained her Austrian citizenship. Her autobiography “Invisible Walls”, published by Czernin-Verlag, is the extraordinary life story of a unique woman who broke down all the invisible walls in her life – as a journalist and as a refugee child.

An remarkable personality has left us. Hella Pick’s impact will continue to be felt through her publications and she will remain forever in our memories.