Ilse Thompson
Ilse Thompson was born in in Berlin in the 1920s. She left Germany as a result of the rescue efforts of a group of Quakers in Germany. This was part of a broader rescue effort, or Kindertransport, of German Jewish children to the United Kingdom (UK) during the Second World War. Ilse joined the military in the UK and became a British citizen. Her brother Hans Albert, likewise brought to the UK, was deemed a higher-risk enemy alien and was interned in Canada during the war. He was released towards the end of the war. Ilse’s mother was taken to Auschwitz in 1943 and was never heard from again. Ilse immigrated to Canada via New York in 1947. She married Ray Thompson in 1950 and the couple had two children.