Kindertransport refugee to be a knight

LONDON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Seventy years after he arrived in Britain as a refugee, Erich Reich has been awarded a knighthood for his charitable work, officials announced Thursday.

Reich, 74, a London resident, was honored primarily for his work with Classic Tours, which organizes fundraising events, The Daily Telegraph reported. He is also chairman of the Kindertransport Group of the Association of Jewish Refugees.

The Kindertransport, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, brought 10,000 children from Germany and German-occupied Austria and Czechoslovakia to Britain.

"It is a tribute to the work of my team at Classic Tours who tirelessly support my original concept to help charities fundraise through overseas challenge events, and to my kindred spirits and fellow survivors of the Holocaust who benefited from, and in turn give back to, the Kindertransport movement," Reich said of his knighthood.

Claire Bertschinger, a nurse who has spent much of her career in poor countries and who inspired Bob Geldof's advocacy for the poor, is to be made a dame.

In recent years, the Queen's Honors lists have included more people chosen for service performed in relative obscurity, including teachers and, this year, a circus ringmaster.