Alisa's Story

Alisa Tennenbaum

Early life in Vienna

Alisa Tennenbaum was born Liselotte Scherzer in 1929 in Vienna, Austria, to Moshe Mordechai Scherzer, who was born in Austria, and Edith, née Butterweich, who was born in Galicia. She had one sister, Melitta-Miriam.

Her childhood in Vienna was interrupted by the rise of Nazism and the persecution of the Jewish community after the Anschluss. Her family’s story became part of the wider story of Jewish children who were separated from their parents in the hope that they could be brought to safety.

Kindertransport to England

When she was 10 years old, on 22 August 1939, Alisa was sent by her family on the last Kindertransport from Vienna to England. She arrived in Tynemouth, near Newcastle, where a group of Jewish refugee girls found shelter after leaving Central Europe.

In June 1940 she was transferred to Windermere, where she lived in a hostel with other girls throughout the war. The memories of Tynemouth and Windermere remained part of her testimony and later public activity.

Family reunion and immigration to Israel

In December 1945 she joined her father, who had made his way to Glasgow, Scotland. Her mother had been transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau and was released in Ravensbrück.

In October 1949, Alisa immigrated to Israel with her parents on the Kedma ship and settled in Beit Yanai, near her sister and her family. In January 1951, she married Jerusalem-born Benjamin Tennenbaum, who was her teacher at the ulpan, and they moved to Beit Herut.

Life in Israel

Alisa and Benjamin Tennenbaum had two daughters, Bina and Batel. In May 1967, Benjamin died. Alisa worked as a seamstress until her daughters were born, and later worked for 27 years as a librarian in the regional high school of Emek Hefer, eventually running the library.

After her retirement in 1994, Alisa continued to volunteer in the Emek Hefer community, including at Yad Lebanim Emek Hefer and Beit David.

Memory, testimony and public work

In Israel, Alisa Tennenbaum became a central figure in the Kindertransport community. She headed the Kindertransport Children’s Organization in Israel and was responsible for organizing many conferences, reunions and remembrance activities for Kindertransport survivors and their families.

Her work also included communication within the Israeli Kindertransport community. An AJR Kindertransport newsletter from 2006 refers to Alisa Tennenbaum as editor of the Israeli newsletter, and a later newsletter item written by her describes a meeting of the Israeli Kinder group with the British Ambassador to Israel, reflecting her role in coordinating and representing survivors.

Alisa also gave testimony in educational and public settings in Israel and abroad. She spoke with students, participated in Kindertransport events, and was connected to remembrance projects, exhibitions and performances, including the Beit Zvi production “Rakavot HaYeladim”. In 2016 she was listed as one of the torch lighters at Massuah Institute’s Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.

Through her testimony, educational work and community activity, Alisa helped keep the memory of the Kindertransport alive for new generations, turning a childhood story of separation and rescue into a lifelong commitment to memory, education and human connection.