The Tennis Champion that Escaped the Nazis: Liesl Herbst’s Journey from Vienna to Wimbledon

Felice Hardy will share the moving story of the escape and survival of her grandmother, Liesl Herbst, who fled Nazi occupation with her family. In 1930, at the age of 26 Liesl was the Austrian National Tennis Champion, a celebrity in Vienna. Liesl, her husband David and their daughter Dorli came to Britain after escaping the Nazis. In London, though initially stripped of their Austrian passports and rendered stateless aliens, both Liesl and her daughter Dorli competed at Wimbledon. They remain the only mother and daughter ever to have played doubles together at Wimbledon.