World War Two refugee committee records go online

Records of people who fled from Nazi persecution in World War Two to a part of Surrey have now been made accessible online for the first time.

The records are from the papers of the Dorking and District Refugee Committee – a group of volunteers who were able to find housing, work and medical care for refugees arriving in the Surrey town between 1938 and 1949.

Until now, the records have only existed in paper form at the Dorking Museum, but have now moved to a digital form after it worked with the University of Surrey.

The website organises the committee's work into five themes – solidarity, caring for refugees, children, the post-war years and the people involved.

Kathy Atherton, chairm of the Dorking Museum, said: "The Refugee Committee papers are among the archive's most frequently requested resources.

"Digitisation not only opens them up to a far wider audience but also protects the physical fabric of the collection from over-handling by researchers."

The project going online follows archives at Surrey History Centre in Woking also going digital.

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