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Sylvia Hurst (nee Fleischer) was fortunate enough to be on one of the last Children's Transports by train from Hamburg to London before the outbreak of World War II. This is the story of her childhood in the year during which Hitler came into power, years that saw the fearful rise of Nazism and the extraordinary brainwashing of an entire nation into the belief that all their troubles could be solved by the elimination of the very people who, for decades, had contributed most to the German economy, the Jews. Jews had become Schutzjuden (protected Jews) of the local Lord at the end of eighteenth century, and they developed the local industry to the great benefit of the population. Born into a wealthy middle-class family - successful founders of the corset industry, owning factories in Germany and abroad - hers was a happy, indeed idyllic, childhood. Her father had no interest in the corset industry, and became a doctor of Nature-cure. The young Albert Einstein spent most of his school holidays with her father. He was a distant relative and their close friendship was kept up all their lives. Slowly the storm-clouds gather - almost imperceptibly - but gradually their effects become less easy to ignore. Names are called in the street; graffiti appears on walls; travel is restricted; money is in short supply. Then comes the destruction of Cristall Nacht. There is a necessity for the Jewish people to emigrate, however society makes it a struggle to get the necessary visas and permissions.Through all of this the author is developing into a young woman with all the emotional and physical strains of adolescence. Laugh or Cry is a vivid memoir, written with tenderness, humour and sincerity, a tale of courage and stoicism in a world that is gone forever.

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Sylvia Hurst was born in Wuerttemberg, Germany in 1922, into a family of industrialists who had factories in France, England, Italy and Germany. She began to study fashion at colleges in Berlin and Hamburg but as the Nazi threat increased, she managed to join a Children's Transport to England in July 1939. She was declared a 'friendly enemy alien, Category C', which meant at the age of eighteen she was called up just as any English girl would be. She was then directed into various difficult and unsuitable jobs, until a former family friend helped her into a position with the American Red Cross which she kept for several years. In between juggling a three-way shift pattern, Sylvia managed to continue her education, and designed theatrical costumes and evening wear for films and theatre. When released from war work in 1946, she had her own workrooms and supplied her very high class, haute couture designs at normal retail prices, gaining her entry into the best stores in England. She continued to supply television and theatre. For domestic reasons, she left London and accepted a lectureship for design in the Manchester area, later becoming Head of Department. On reaching retirement age, Sylvia Hurst acquired a country inn in County Durham, which she ran with her daughter for seventeen years, successfully selling high-class French food in the restaurant. The Inn was sold when Sylvia reached the age of seventy-five years. She had written her autobiography in the 1950s, but was told that it was not the right time to publish this kind of book on Nazi Germany. Her original manuscript was eventually retrieved and with the help of a friend, Liz Finnigan, she managed to get it published as Laugh or Cry. She continued her design work by producing a series of large religious glass pictures for the Millennium, which were on exhibition for four months. Sylvia Hurst still lives in County Durham.

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