[2] Urged by Helmut's teacher, the family sent Kallmann to London as part of the Kindertransport rescue mission in 1939.
His mother, father and older sister Eva were unable to get the necessary papers to leave Germany, and were murdered in the Holocaust.
He arrived in Quebec City, Canada in 1940 on board the MS Sobieski, part of a convoy of 2,000 other "prisoners of war".
[2] He moved to Toronto, working first for an accountancy firm, and then at Coles bookstore,[5] while studying piano and finishing high school.
He led the building and preserving of a broad collection of musical Canadiana: printed material, manuscripts and recordings.
[1] With Clifford Ford, Elaine Keillor and others, Kallmann helped form the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, serving as its chair for much of its existence.
The position received significant funding from Carleton Distinguished Research Professor Elaine Keillor as well as The Koerner Foundation.