Astrid's Life

The Zydower Family

Astrid is sitting in the lap of the nurse on right

Remembering Our Parents

With the devastating and untimely death of our beloved sister, Astrid, it brings back many memories to my brother, Manfred, and myself of our very dear parents who died tragically towards the end of the war. Themselves only reaching middle age. The saddest thing for me is that they did not live long enough to know that their youngest daughter became a great sculptress as well as a talented artist. But, above all, a truly remarkable person who was dearly loved and admired by everyone who was fortunate enough to be part of Astrid’s life. How very proud our parents would have been of such an achievement.

During her lifetime, my sister, brother and myself often looked back on our early years in Germany as happy ones, being brought up in a much loved and relaxed environment, with parents who saw to all our childhood needs, both educationally and socially. This coupled with frequent visits by our many relatives and friends making our lives complete. I recall our mother especially as having such a wonderful, kind, cheerful and loving nature, and I truly believe that Astrid inherited this gift. Indeed, my dear son Peter’s tribute to Astrid on her death said “Astrid brought a deep love and a delicious twinkle of fun into our lives”, and I feel certain that Astrid brought this exuberance also into our parent’s lives all those many years ago. However, our lives were to change dramatically in the Summer of 1939, but the treasured memories of our parents have lived on and will do so forever.

I would like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt thanks to peter Amsden and his partner Derby, who have so devotedly spent endless hours producing pages and pages of information about Astrid’s work throughout her life on this website for all of us to see and marvel at.

Anita.

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Astrid, Anita and Manfred were part of the Kindertransport that rescued so many children from the Nazi machine in Europe. For more information on this part of history please refer to the dedicated web site at http://tinyurl.com/2aldp5

PCA