Unpublished memoir of Pavel and Eli Novak

Scope and Content

Typescript of 83 pages. Life story of Jewish refugees Pavel and Eli Novak. PN came to the UK from Czechoslovakia by train on 31 March 1939 and EN came Austria on the Kindertransport in May of the same year. They married in 1942. The memoir covers their childhood years in Czechoslovakia / Austria, the 6 years they spent as refugees in the UK, and their post-war lives in Czechoslovakia from 1948-1968 and in the UK from 1968-2003. Completed in Newcastle in 2003.

Administrative / Biographical History

Emeritus Professor of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Came to the UK in 1939 from Prague on the Kindertransport. Returned to Prague in 1945 but left again for Britain in 1968.

Access Information

Open. At least 48 hours' notice is required for research visits.

Conditions Governing Use

Copies may be made subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Special Collections Reading Room staff, who will need a minimum of 48 hours to process requests. This material may still in copyright; responsibility for gaining permission to use such material rests with the user.

Custodial History

Electronic file of memoir was sent by Pavel Novak in February 2015.