In my Holocaust & Genocide Studies class today we talked about the victims of the Holocaust, we only grazed the surface of the Kindertransports and of the Winton transports in particular but, I would like to go more in depth to these transports, the children saved, and the admirable heroes behind their success.
Kindertransports
– the informal name of a series of rescue efforts which brought thousands of refugee Jewish children to Great Britain from Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1940.
After the injustice of Kristallnacht, Britain eased their immigration restrictions allowing children under the age of 17 to enter into their country from Germany and Germany-annexed territories. Popular British opinion and several committees were what ultimately encouraged Britain’s decision but they did have to guarantee payment for each child’s care, education, and eventually for their emigration from Great Britain. The children were allowed in unaccompanied and on temporary travel visas. “It was understood at the time that when the “crisis was over,” the children would return to their families. Parents or guardians could not accompany the children. The few infants included in the program were cared for by other children on their transport. (Kindertransport Article)
On the journey to Britain, children traveled by train to ports in Belgium and the Netherlands, from there they sailed to Harwich. Children with sponsors then would go to London where they would meet their foster families. Children without sponsors would go to a summer camp and other facilities until individual families could be found for them. The Kindertransports altogether saved over 9,000 children of which, 7,500 were Jewish.
Source: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005260
Winton Transports
– A stockbroker by profession, Nicholas Winton organized a rescue operation that brought about 669 children, mostly Jewish, from Czechoslovakia to Great Britain.
Winton immediately established a Children’s Section after witnessing Jewish refugee camps and realizing that soon Germany would control much more territory, used the name of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, initially without authorization, and began taking applications from parents at his hotel in Prague. As his operation expanded, he opened an office in central Prague. Soon, thousands of parents lined up outside of Winton’s Children Section’s office seeking a safe haven for their children. (Winton Article)
“Winton returned to London to organize the rescue operation on that end. He raised money to fund the transports of the children and the 50 pound per child guarantee demanded by the British government to fund the children’s eventual departure from Britain. He also had to find British families willing to care for the refugee children. By day, Winton worked at his regular job on the Stock Exchange, and then devoted late afternoons and evenings to his rescue efforts. He made a great effort to raise money and find foster homes to bring as many children as possible to safety.
The total number of children rescued through Winton’s efforts is not yet certain. According to a scrapbook he kept, 664 children came to Great Britain on transports that he organized. In the research compiled for the documentary “The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton,” aired on Czech television in 2002, researchers identified five additional persons who entered Britain on a Winton-financed transport, bringing the official number to 669 children. The available information indicates that some children who were rescued have not yet been identified.
After the war, Nicholas Winton’s rescue efforts remained virtually unknown. It was not until 1988, when his wife Grete found a scrapbook from 1939 with all the children’s photos and a complete list of names of those rescued that Winton’s rescue efforts became known. Winton since received a letter of thanks from the late Ezer Weizman, former president of the State of Israel, and was made an honorary citizen of Prague in the independent Czech Republic. In 2002, Winton received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to humanity. (Winton Article)”
Just Another Voice in the Void 