 During the war, Essinger established a reception camp for 10,000 German children sent to England on the Kindertransports, taking some of them into the school.After the war, her school took many child survivors of Nazi concentration camps.By the time Essinger closed Bunce Court in 1948, she had taught and cared for over 900 children, most of whom called her "Tante" ("Aunt") Anna, or TA, for short.