Lisel turned six right before the children's scheduled transport in June 1939. On June 24 she was allowed to choose her favorite foods for a special birthday meal—“mashed potatoes with spring vegetables sprinkled like jewels.” Five days later, during her last night in Germany, she woke up every hour and ran to her mother in bed. She begged Grete to let her stay, as if the move was a simple matter of whim. The whole trip to the train station, Lisel tightly held her mother's hand. How would she be able to say good-bye to her mama? And this farewell would have to be short. The Nazis would not tolerate visibly emotional good-byes that might attract the attention or, worse, indignation of the accepted Aryan population. Many parents were not even allowed on the train platform. In those final moments, they couldn't be there for their children in a basic way—unable to hold the small hands of young children as they climbed the train's stairs to places unknown. Instead, at the gate to the platform, Grete had to find a way to send her desperate daughter away. Thankfully, she had one means of reassurance. She said, “But Lisel, auntie Anne is waiting for you in London!”

Landau, who Lisel had always called Anne, had flown on a Royal Dutch (KLM) flight from Germany to Holland. Her first communication to her family after her departure was a postcard, with a picture of the inside of the company's plane. It had a row of two seats on one side and, across the aisle, a single row. The windows were fashioned with curtains, neatly tied back. Her family had no experience with air travel. The age of aviation may have begun with the Wright brothers in 1903, but commercial flights were still new. KLM had been operating service of such a distance only since 1929. Landau noted how quiet the “modern machine” was as it flew through only “clouds, clouds.” Finally, Landau saw the sun. It came out just as she crossed over the North Sea to safety in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam the plane landed, and Landau waited at a small café to change planes. She had with her a violin, a gift from her father.