ONE of the youngest children to be saved from Nazi Germary by the Kindertransport is joining a group of cyclists to retrace his steps 80 years on.

About 10,000 children, most of whom were Jewish, were packed off on the Kindertransport to escape Nazi Europe between December 1938 and September 1939.

Dropped off at Parkeston Quay, children stayed at Dovercourt’s holiday camp before they were taken off to foster families across the country.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the first Kindertransport train to Harwich port, 42 riders are cycling 600 miles from Berlin to London.

Paul Alexander was just 18-months-old when his mother put him into the arms of a stranger to be brought to safety in Britain.

He is cycling the journey alongside his son Nadav and 14-year-old grandson Daniel.

Paul said: “For me, this is a culmination, a vindication and a celebration of my life.

"I was sent as a child from Germany – which was a country of persecution and hatred – to a country where I found freedom and safety.

"That journey was the most significant I have ever made, and ever will make, in my whole life. It enabled me to live a normal life with my parents, after we were reunited.

“The journey that I’m on this week is a victory over oppression and over everything that I was sent away from.

"I can’t think of a more poignant and meaningful thing than doing this with my son and grandson.

"This is my chance to say thank you to World Jewish Relief for orchestrating the Kindertransport.”

The cyclists stopped at the second Kindertransport statue at the Hook of Holland before boarding the overnight ferry to Harwich last night, where the children on the first Kindertransport train disembarked on December 2, 1938.

Dignitaries are due to meet them at Parkeston Railway Club this morning.

They will then continue on to London Liverpool Street to the Kindertransport statue outside the station where several people who arrived as children on the Kindertransport will be waiting to welcome them.

Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Nigel Spencer, of the Kindertransport steering group, said: "Each rider will dedicate their effort to the incredible journey made by one of the thousands of children who were saved by the Kindertransport."

The Kindertransport Commemorative Ride has been organised by World Jewish Relief, which spearheaded this unique rescue effort in the 1930s.