From the S&S archives: Transatlantic effort aids Berlin kids

HANAU, Germany — Santa got a mighty big assist this year from a group of combat-hardened veterans and their wives, a group of New Yorkers and the Air Force.

The lift came in the form of two shipments of toys that were financed by the New Yorkers, packed by a group of volunteers from the Hanau Council of Sergeants Major and then flown to Berlin by the 53rd Troop Carrier Sq at Rhine-Main Air Base near Frankfurt.

Willy Brandt, lord mayor of West Berlin was on hand to receive the toys. He will host a Christmas party for the Berlin youngsters and for the group of Americans who helped with the transatlantic Santa Claus project.

More than $7,500 was donated by subscribers of the New York German language newspaper Staatszeitung as a. result of an appeal made by the paper's editor, August Steuerof.

Steuerof forwarded the funds to an international mail order house, the Friedrich Schwab Co. of Frankfurt, to purchase the gifts for the "Berliner Kinder."

Hearing of the project, the Hanau Council of Sergeants Major and their wives made arrangements for the packing and shipment of the toys to Berlin.

The senior NCOs contacted personnel of the 53rd Troop Carrier Sq at Rhine-Main who volunteered their services.

The Schwab Company prepared a large Christmas card bearing a replica of the Statue of Liberty and the Berlin bear and the signatures of the donors who made the gifts possible.