[46] Under the loose direction of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, headed by Doreen Warriner, Winton spent three weeks in Prague compiling a list of children in Czechoslovakia, mostly Jewish, who were refugees from Nazi Germany. The records may reveal when and where your ancestor arrived in Britain. (DS 135 .E6 K67 2008) [Find in a library near you] Describes the author's experience on a Kindertransport from Austria to England and the impact of the new culture on Orthodox Jewish children. The name and location of the orphanage from which they came; The first name or nickname of the sender(s) The relationship between the sender(s) and the recipients(s) Works Cited. During the latter years of the war, they may have become aware of the Holocaust and the actual direct threat to their Jewish parents and extended family. [39], The RCM ran out of money at the end of August 1939, and decided it could take no more children. There can be something very meaningful about finding documents with details, for example that your grandmother Esther left Berlin on a Kindertransport to London on January 15, 1939, or that on July 17, 1942 your mothers cousin Pauli was deported from Vienna to Auschwitz. Special thanks to Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias for their [21] In Sweden, the Jewish Community of Stockholm negotiated with the government for an exception to the country's restrictive policy on Jewish refugees for a number of children. [1][2] The British government placed no numerical limit on the programme; it was the start of the Second World War that brought it to an end, by which time about 10,000 kindertransport children had been brought to the country. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Winton's Children. Kindertransports (Rescue operations) --Great Britain. Many of the children are fatherless and motherless, and retain vivid memories of the orphanage where they were sheltered in Berlin being fired above their heads. in some cases, street addresses. Over 90 people lost their lives and over 25,000 men were arrested, deported, and detained in the concentration camps at Buchenwald, Dachau and Sachsenhausen. Was was in the suitcase the children brought? This was a first, with over 1,200 people, kindertransportees and their families, attending from all over the world. During the wave of violence, thousands of Jews were terrorised, persecuted and victimised and over 1,200 synagogues and thousands of Jewish shops, businesses and homes were desecrated, looted and burned. Mailing list for the Kindertransport Association (KTA) contains nearly 100 addresses and names of individuals who have been part of the Kindertransports. reason, did not do so. Great Britain, December 12, 1938. Unit 2C, Life in Germany 1919-1945, OCR GCE History A JewishGen's Holocaust Database. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 What's the cheapest way to buy out a sibling's share of our parents house if I have no cash and want to pay less than the appraised value? The Kindertransport was a British scheme to rescue Jewish children from Nazi occupied regions in Europe. I Came Alone: The Stories of the Kindertransports. Many children went through trauma during their extensive Kindertransport experience. Unit 2D: Germany, 1919-1945, Part 4, Edexcel: GCE History When Churchill's internment policy became known, there was a debate in Parliament. The letters are addressed to their families back in Germany while the children are leaving them behind for the safety of England. Letters regarding the entry of refugee children into the UK. My Family for the War (2013), a young adult novel by Anne C. Voorhoeve, recounts the story of Franziska Mangold, a ten-year-old Christian girl of Jewish ancestry who goes on the Kindertransport to live with an Orthodox British family. Sisterland (2004), a young adult novel by Linda Newbery, concerns a Kindertransport child, Sarah Reubens, who is now a grandmother; sixteen-year-old Hilly uncovers the secret her grandmother has kept hidden for years. The Kindertransport was a British scheme to rescue nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi occupied territories. Q Please use the search function for your research (right above the table). In the United Kingdom, the Association of Jewish Refugees houses a special interest group called the Kindertransport Organisation.[66]. Trauma and Attachment in the Kindertransport Context: German-Jewish Child Refugees' Accounts of Displacement and Acculturation in Britain. Most were from a Berlin Jewish orphanage burned by the Nazis during the night of 9 November, and the others were from Hamburg. Unfortunately, many records were lost or destroyed after the Kindertransport children were no longer under the care of the Committee, so not all searches may not will be successful. Ministry of Health document for a Kindertransport, 28 December 1938 (MH 55/704) England - Transport via Southampton. With the outbreak of World War II, refugees from Germany residing in Great Britain were increasingly seen as a security threat. and database expertise to make this database accessible. The various groups which did most to organise the rescue missions were: As part of the rescue, each child had to have a guarantor in Britain to cover the 50 cost of the return trip (equivalent to 2,000 today). [14], At the end of the war, there were great difficulties in Britain as children from the Kindertransport tried to reunite with their families. The Children Who Cheated the Nazis (2000), a Channel 4 documentary film. The first of the Kinder arrived in December 1938. The scanned material is a thorough representation of the central government files, which were transferred to The National Archives relating to Kindertransport. The Bad Arolson Archives May be searched online to find information on victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. Yes it might be safe now but some people are very Private, Plus the ones that transcribe often change words etc to what they think these people were trying to say. They could only take a small sealed suitcase with no valuables and only ten marks or less in money. [8] The bill stated that the government would waive certain immigration requirements so as to allow the entry into Great Britain of unaccompanied children ranging from infants up to the age of 17, under a number of conditions. Each record includes an image and a transcript. Not all research can be done online, some requires going in person to archives, museums, town halls or schools. By that time most of the people who had worked in the kindertransport in Czechoslovakia had died and Winton became the symbol of British help to refugees fleeing the Nazis, especially Jewish refugees, before the Second World War. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Is there a list of interned in 2-4 Rosenstrasse? Then give him a name that never fades in its popularity. The Children of Willesden Lane (2017), a historical novel for young adults by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen, about the Kindertransport, told through the perspective of Lisa Jura, mother of Mona Golabek. A companion book with the same title expands upon the film. Dubrovsky, Gertrude W. Six from Leipzig. It can be assumed based on similar correspondence at the time, that the originalletterswere written in the form of postcards, but it is unknown whether theystill exist and if so, where are they located. These documents can be used to support any of the exam board specifications covering, for example: AQA GCE History A Private citizens or organizations had to guarantee payment for each child's care, education, and eventual emigration from Britain. The tragic events of November 1938 are seen by many as marking the beginning of the Holocaust. She had collected 66 of the children from the orphanage on the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam, part of which had been serving as a home for refugees. Please contact me if you have any further information. The Kindertransport (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place in 1938-1939 during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Three synagogues in Berlin are known to have been set on fire. The last group of children, which left Prague on 3 September 1939, was turned back because the Nazis had invaded Poland the beginning of the Second World War. The Jewish Community in Prague May have records on children from Czechoslovakia and their families. Kindertransport: The Play (1993), a play by Diane Samuels. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Papers from the Aliens Department. Kindertransport. Its helped me understand the issues. Prior to the bill the childrens parents were considered the legal guardians but unfortunately for many, their parents outcome was unknown or they did not survive. Some children had nothing but a manila tag with a number on the front and their name on the back,[16] others were issued with a numbered identity card with a photo:[17], The first party of 196 children arrived at Harwich on the TSS Prague on 2 December, three weeks after Kristallnacht, disembarking at Parkeston Quay. Registered in England. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. These cookies do not store any personal information. At the time, Alfred Wiener, the German-Jewish founder of The Wiener Library, was heading the Central Jewish Information Office (JCIO) in Amsterdam, which had been a place of refuge for him and his colleagues since 1933. Many speeches expressed horror at the idea of interning refugees, and a vote overwhelmingly instructed the Government to "undo" the internment. The most comprehensive list of the Kinder available has been created by the Association of Jewish Refugees. London : Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain ; Reunion of Kindertransport Kindertransport]. Nevertheless, Wijsmuller-Meijer managed to send 500 of the children to Harwich, where they were accommodated in a nearby holiday camp at Dovercourt, while the remaining 100 found refuge in the Netherlands. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2009. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. mit D" Washington" ab Hamburg am 28.XII.1938 [With steamship "Washington" from Hamburg on 28th December 1938] [The names listed below are hand written on the document] Highlights include: Additionally, The Wiener Holocaust Library holds a large collection of books focused on the Kindertransport. Dutch humanitarian Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer arranged for 1,500 children to be admitted to the Netherlands; the children were supported by the Dutch Committee for Jewish Refugees, which was paid by the Dutch Jewish Community. Proposals to send some refugee children to the US. The Central British Fund for German Jewry (now World Jewish Relief) was established in 1933 to support in whatever way possible the needs of Jews in Germany and Austria. The occasion marked the 70th anniversary of the intended last Kindertransport, which was due to set off on 3 September 1939 but did not because of the outbreak of the war. The train, consisting of an original locomotive and carriages used in the 1930s, headed to London via the original Kindertransport route. For this reason, it was important to bring the story to public awareness. This action to rescue refugee children from Nazi persecution later became known as Kindertransport. Was your relative one of the thousands of children (or Kinder in German) rescued from Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria in the run up to World War II? If you are able to read both German and English, does your interpretation of the letters differ from one to the other? The majority of children had guarantors who would cover the re-emigration costs. Some families tried to smuggle out the family valuables. Explore a timeline of events that occurred before, during, and after the Holocaust. The association shares their stories, honours those who made the Kindertransport possible, and supports charitable work that aids children in need. The Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database will be unavailable from 6 PM ET on Friday, February 15th, 2019 to 12 PM ET on Saturday, February 16th, 2019 due to scheduled maintenance. In all, the rescue operation brought about 10,000 children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland to Great Britain. While their priorities are to assist survivors and families, they have many requests to fulfill, and they ask you to please have patience, and expect responses within 1-3 months. Kindertransport Association. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Fill out an online request form, and researchers will search through a large collection of records. Who sponsored children travelling on the Kindertransport, and how did this process work? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In case no information on a person is found in our collections, we recommend checking the following websites: If you have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us in the Wolfson Reading Room, by calling 020 7636 7247, or emailing the Collections Team. Health (MH)- Reports on the refugee camp at Dovercourt including menus, descriptions of accommodation and activities organised for the children. Harris, Mark Jonathan, and Deborah Oppenheimer. Use the arrow to the right to move through the document. The Kinder continued to be monitored during the war years, with information on their financial maintenance and religious upbringing being recorded centrally. It includes an appearance by Nicholas Winton. They generally favored children whose emigration was urgent because their parents were in concentration camps or were no longer able to support them. Questions of finance, welfare and religious upbringing were issues which aroused criticism and conflict. This list contains the names of the children who were able to flee abroad, mainly to England, on a Kindertransport in 1938 and 1939. Whether your ancestor left the UK and moved to another country. Do you think your interpretation of the letters would be different if you were reading the original handwritten letters? It could be as part of a school family history project, assembling a family tree and finding distant relatives, or to apply for citizenship in our ancestors country of origin. This first group of children was made up primarily of children from a Jewish orphanage in Berlin that was destroyed during the November Pogrom, but also included several boys who were old enough to be threatened with internment if they stayed, children of parents who were held in concentration camps, and children with only one parent (Fast 34). The name Kristallnacht literally means Night of Crystal in German and owes its name to the shards of broken glass from the windows of Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues that littered the streets as a result of the destruction and looting throughout the pogrom. The records do not stop at the point of arrival in the UK. Kindertransport was the informal name for this rescue operation, where Jews, Quakers and Christians of many denominations worked together. Print. Neither the German nor the English governments have ever released The train made its way through Holland, with several stops along the way in Oldenzaal and Rotterdam. [55], Nearly all the interned 'friendly enemy aliens' were refugees who had fled Hitler and Nazism, and nearly all were Jewish. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2001. The few infants included in the program were cared for by other children on their transport. How to find records of a refugee from the Nazis? Tikz: Numbering vertices of regular a-sided Polygon, There exists an element in a group whose order is at most the number of conjugacy classes. Kindertransport Association based in London. Possibly the most well-known example of these rescue operations involved individual British families agreeing to "host" children from Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic through a program known as Kindertransport.Through this program, organized by Sir Nicholas Winton, an estimated 10,000 refugee children, most of them Jewish, were housed in the United Kingdom during . This achievement was remarkable not only for the sheer number of lives saved but because it was organized by ordinary people from all different backgrounds, all with the common goal of protecting a stranger against a great evil. The programme was supported, publicised, and encouraged by the British government, which waived the visa immigration requirements that were not within the ability of the British Jewish community to fulfil. England - Transport via Southampton with D "Washington" from Hamburg on 28.XII.1939, List of girls and boys transported from Hamburg to Southampton via the Kindertransport. Reports of the work of refugee workers in Poland and Germany including the Society of Friends (Quakers). Once the children were identified or grouped by list, their guardians or parents were issued a travel date and departure details. Adam Alexander Avery Benjamin Daniel David Elijah Ethan Freddie Harley Harper Henry Jack James John Joseph Liam Lucas Luke Mason Create Baby Names Combining Parents' Names Where can I find death records for Germany post 1919? London: I.B. v3.0. Almost 10,000 children were transported to the UK through this program. Within months of Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany in 1933, tens of thousands of Jews left the country. The train eventually arrived at the Hook of Holland, where the children boarded a ferry to Harwich, England around midnight. This is not a complete list of all The primary trauma experienced by children in the Kindertransport was the separation from their parents. The lack of names is partially due to the nature in which they were gathered, but also due to the fact that they were sometimes intentionally withheld. Harris, Mark Jonathan, and Deborah Oppenheimer. (Hansard, 21 November 1938)", "Kindertransport, Jewish children leave Prague Collections Search United States Holocaust Memorial Museum", "Kindertransport | About Us | World Jewish Relief Charity", "The Winton Children: The roles of Trevor Chadwick and Bill Barazetti". They are not the operational records of the project, and dont represent a systematic or complete listing of all the children rescued over the period, because it was not a centrally organised or collated effort, but rather an emergency measure to allow unaccompanied children under the age of 17 entry to the UK. Oppenheimer, Deborah and Harris, Mark Jonathan. [citation needed] Reports of this trauma is often presented in very personal terms, with trauma varying based on the child's experiences, including their age at separation from their parents, their experience during the wartime, and their experience after the war. That night, the Dundee Evening Telegraph reported, Two hundred boy and girls arrived at Harwich today. After the pogrom, the British government eased immigration restrictions for certain categories of Jewish refugees. This absence of original writing is evident in the document above, which contains a series of transcribed letters rather than the originals. The Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center, England - Trasport via Southampton mit D. "Washington" ab Hamburg am 28.XII.1939 (ID: 40142), [GUARDIANSHIP (REFUGEE CHILDREN) ACT, 1944.] The records may reveal when and where your ancestor arrived in Britain. Children in the care of the Czechoslovak Refugee Trust Fund. Escape From Berlin (2013), a novel by Irene N. Watts, is the fictional account of two Jewish girls, Marianne Kohn and Sophie Mandel, who fled Berlin through the Kindertransport. If not for the Kindertransport, 10,000 more children's names would be on that list. The British Jewish community and the Quakers advocated for rescuing vulnerable children and bringing them to Britain. War Cabinet (CAB) Includes records relating to the drafting of the 1943 Guardianship (Refugee Children) Bill and a copy of the drafted bill. He finds someone who knew his mother, and he retraces his journey by train. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. [53], In June 1940, Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, ordered the internment of all male 16-to 70-year-old refugees from enemy countries so-called 'friendly enemy aliens' (an incongruous term). The records may reveal when and where It was typically the case that children were told to write whilst on the journey and that postcards were collected from them at a certain point and sent. The Kindertransport Association is a section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization.Copyright 2023 Kindertransport Association. My phone's touchscreen is damaged. None of the testimonies in this collection were written directly by the individual providing testimony. He then went back to Britain with the objective of fulfilling the legal requirements to bring the children to Britain and to find homes for them. The first Kindertransport train originated in the German town of Bad Bentheim on the border of Holland. Can you still use Commanders Strike if the only attack available to forego is an attack against an ally? Reports of the rates of maintenance paid by the government for children boarded out with schools, families, lodgings or other institutions. Holocaust survivors --Societies, etc. Melissa Hacker has been very influential in organizing the kinder who now live in America. Kindertransport was a British scheme to rescue Jewish children from Nazi occupied regions in Europe. These records from Vienna may also been found at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP). The first of the Kinder arrived in December 1938. To explore the records further we have created an additional option: Kindertransport Browse to enable you to read through all the historical documents from start to finish. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP). The following document is just one of a unique collection of 365 eyewitness testimonies gathered in the days, weeks, and months following the November Pogrom of 1938, alternatively known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. What are the advantages of running a power tool on 240 V vs 120 V? Kindertransports (Rescue operations) --Great. New York: Devora, 2008. Many children from the children's transport program became citizens of Great Britain, or emigrated to Israel, the United States, Canada, and Australia. [18][19] A plaque unveiled in 2011 at Harwich harbour marks this event. Any previous names, place of birth, and/or place of departure are . [7][failed verification] Among other measures, they requested that the British government permit the temporary admission of unaccompanied Jewish children, without their parents. London: I.B. The Nazis had decreed that the evacuations must not block ports in Germany, so most transport parties went by train to the Netherlands; then to a British port, generally Harwich, by ferry from the Hook of Holland near Rotterdam. For the children in the care of the Refugee Childrens Movement, Lord Gorell was named as their guardian in England and their tutor for children residing in Scotland. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Kindertransport Monument Hoek van Holland, United States Committee for the Care of European Children, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, The Essential Link: The Story of Wilfrid Israel, Jews escaping from Nazi Europe to Britain, "The Long Goodbye: Kindertransport Revisited 80 Years After", "Kindertransport survivor sees German payments as history acknowledged", "600 Child Refugees Taken From Vienna; 100 Jewish Youngsters Going to Netherlands, 500 to England", "Remembering the Kindertransport: 80 Years on", "Racial, Religious and Political Minorities. The first train carrying children - one of the so-called 'Kindertransport' - left Prague on 14 March with 20 boys and girls on board; the next day Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, and the need to evacuate more children took on a greater urgency. A party left Prague on 3 September 1939, but was sent back.[40]. Beyond those few details, nothing is known about the specific provenance of this item or the individual children who wrote the letters themselves. No limit upon the permitted number of refugees was ever publicly announced. Refugee children applying for the Girl Guides warrants. Items with shelf mark S3b are related to Jewish Refugees in Britain. THIS LIST IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SECTION'S RECORDS OF 15th FEBRUARY, 1940. Many organisations and individuals assisted in settling the children in the UK, such as youth organisations, the Society of Friends (Quakers) and many Jewish and non-Jewish organisations. The Leo Baeck Institute Has a collection of Kindertransport materials. The first Kindertransport arrived in Harwich, Great Britain, on December 2, 1938. Jewish refugee children, part of a Children's Transport (Kindertransport) from Germany, upon arrival in Harwich. The Kitchener Camp online exhibition - Has a list of names of the Jewish men and boys who passed through Kitchener Camp. The End Of Everything Ever (2005), a play for children by the New International Encounter group, which follows the story of a child sent from Czechoslovakia to London by train.[71]. Print. Without the original correspondenceto refer to, we have to rely on the transcriptions available to us. This ship was the last to leave the country freely. Many of the children who had arrived in earlier years were now young men, and so they were also interned. Part of The Family The Christadelphians and the Kindertransport, a collection of personal accounts of Kindertransport children sponsored by Christadelphian families. Sussex, England: Book Guild, 1990. Washington, DC 20024-2126 He warned the British government, through Lord Samuel, of the impending Kristallnacht in November 1938. Tauris, 2011. This bill was to admit 20,000 unaccompanied Jewish child refugees under the age of 14 into the United States from Nazi Germany. Kindertransport family members have been able to find information including the dates of the Kindertransport that their relative was on, through USMMH research. She spent a week in Berlin, hassled by the Nazi police, organising the children. was scheduled to travel on a particular transport but, for no stated Kindertransport The Arrival, Liverpool Street station, London, Zge ins Leben Zge in den Tod: 19381939 - Trains to Life Trains to Death, Friedrichstrae station, Berlin, Die Abreise - The departure in front of Gdask Gwny station, Kindertransport Monument Hoek van Holland Channel Crossing to Life, Hook of Holland, Kindertransport Der letzte Abschied - The final parting, Hamburg Dammtor station, Harwich memorial Safe Haven by Ian Wolter, A number of members of Habonim, a Jewish youth movement inclined to socialism and Zionism, were instrumental in running the country hostels of South West England. In 1940, British authorities interned as enemy aliens about 1,000 older children from the Kindertransport. Is there an online list of Kindertransport records? TTY: 202.488.0406. Does such a list exist, and, if so, can it be searched online? In return, the British government agreed to allow unaccompanied refugee children to enter the country on temporary travel visas. Trevor Chadwick remained behind to head the children's programme in Czechoslovakia. They were subsequently transcribed by an anonymous source and sent to the JCIO by somebody who identified himself as Herr Flrsheim (or MrFlrsheim) from Amsterdam. Unit 2: Anti-semitism, Hitler and the German People, 1919-1945 HIS2N, AQA GCSE History A In addition, thanks to JewishGen Inc. for providing the website We are also lacking documentation for who transcribed thepostcards, when they transcribed them, and how they were passed along to MrFlrsheim who gave them to the JCIO. This event is known as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). As a result of Nazi persecution, there was a rise in the number of Jews wanting to emigrate as circumstances for Jews in Germany and its annexed countries changed. Depending on the child's age, the explanation for why they were leaving the country and their parents differed widely: for example, children might be told "you are going on an exciting adventure", or "you are going on a short trip and we will see you soon". This database is searchable via This list is available through the 'Making New Lives' website. . Do you think the order in which the letters is presented affects your reading of them. There is also a companion book by the same name. Before the outbreak of war in September 1939 some 10,000 predominately Jewish children were sent without their parents from Nazi Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain.