HANNA Slome was 14 when she was put on a train from Prague to Harwich in May, 1939.

Little did she know it would be the last time she saw her mother’s face.

Hanna was one of 669 Jewish children put on Kindertransport trains organised by English stockbroker Nicholas Winton to escape the Nazi persecution. It was part of a wider effort which saw 10,000 Jewish youngsters brought to Britain.

She is one of 20 from Winton‘s trains still alive today, who joined more than 100 descendants to retrace the journey on Friday, marking 70 years since the historic event.

Crowds lined the platforms at Harwich’s railway station to see the re-enactment.

The train headed for London, after its stop in Harwich, where 100-year-old Mr Winton met those on board.

Mrs Slome, 84, said: “When my mother said goodbye she said, ‘If anything happens to me, don’t cry for me. I’m dying for my beliefs.’ “That left me with something to hang on to.”

Both her parents died during the Second World War.

Mrs Slome, who now lives in New York, had searched for years for a three-year-old girl she looked after on the journey.

This often happened as there were no parents present.

She said: “She was taken away from me when we arrived and I always wanted to know where she was. I had asked for a list of all the children who had travelled on my train for years afterwards, but I couldn’t find who I was searching for.

“I started telling my story to one lady this week who came and sat next to me with her family.

“We suddenly realised that she was the little girl and we talked for hours.

“I told her about the games we played on the journey and my memories.

“I’m still getting chills now thinking about how I have found her.”

The little girl Mrs Slome had looked after was Lisa Dasch, now Midwinter, who celebrated her fourth birthday two days after arriving in Essex.

Mrs Midwinter, now 74, said: “I remember a sea of faces crying and handkerchiefs being waved as the train left.

“I think I must’ve been one of the youngest. I remember someone heaving me up into the carriage and being left with an older girl who looked after me.

“I arrived with something prickly around my neck – I had a card with my name on it for the people who were to pick me up.”

Mrs Midwinter was one of the only children to see her parents again. They escaped the Sudetenland, which was Nazi occupied, in July 1939.

She was accompanied on the Winton Train by son Nick Wyse and grand-daughter Georgia, 13, during last week’s recreation.

Georgia said: “I’m really looking forward to meeting Nicholas Winton. He did so much for us and I want to thank him.”

Crowds, including schoolchildren, town councillors and film crews, waited to hear stories from survivors.

Jackie Irwin, deputy headteacher of Mayflower Primary School, Dovercourt, brought pupils to watch the celebrations.

She said: “Many of the children have been following the journey on TV and when we heard it would be coming into Harwich, we thought it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“It’s just amazing and very humbling to be a part of it.”