Title: Kindertransport: The Rescue That Changed Lives After the Holocaust | The New York Times
Desc: On the eve of Passover in 1939, a program to bring Jewish refugee children to safety in England began. Now, almost 80 years later, they talk about their experiences.
Tag: history, holocaust, immigration, refugee, rescues, children, interviews, kindertransport
In 1938, the German National Socialist Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) took control of the government, and Hitler’s “Final Solution” to the Jewish question began. The time was ripe for a humanitarian project in the United Kingdom, the “Kindertransport.” The other protagonists were more than 9,000 German and Austrian Jewish children, most of whom were rescued just weeks before the commencement of World War II.
Now, in a new story for The New York Times, five of these children recount their journeys in their own words, sharing experiences that changed the course of their lives.
Desc: The Kindertransport was a national effort in the UK to rescue Jewish children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia just before the start of WWII. The cellist and soprano recount their personal stories of how they ended up in English boarding schools.
Tag: music, cellist, soprano, kindertransport, holocaust, english, boarding schools, refugees
Closely bound with the Kindertransport initiative is the story of Helen Epstein, the national director of its UK-based research and archive wing for more than three decades. In this article for the Jewish Independent, Epstein shares stories found in the more than 200 testimonies collected over the years. The article also provides information on Epstein, her scientific achievements, and the work of the Kindertransport-UK Research Campaign archive.
Desc: The Kindertransport programme saved 10,000 Jewish children from being imprisoned and murdered by the Nazis. Helen Epstein recalls life in England, working as one of the children’s liaison officers, and observing the differences between their primary and secondary socialization.
Tag: dna, education, jewish, refugees, interviews, humans, kindertransport, helen epstein
Sometimes, research leads to unimaginable discoveries, and that is precisely what happened with Frank Meisler, one of the Kindertransport children from 1938. Meisler shared his story after meeting a stranger who looked so much like him that they identified an intimate link: they were half-brothers born from an affair between their Czech Jewish father and a woman who was the mistress of a Nazi commander. NPR Snap Judgment’s website has this captivating story characterized by both brutality and kindness.
Desc: One hundred of these children paid the ultimate price either in the Holocaust or in the UK. The other roughly 9,000 had their lives forever changed. Created for NPR’s Snap Judgment, this story follows Frank Meisler, a Kindertransport child, who discovers a most intriguing change to his life by learning he is half-brothers with a stranger who looks just like him.
Tag: affair, nazi, holocaust, brotherson, identity, nature vs. nurture, kindness, brutality, uk, czechoslovakia, jewish, interviews, snap judgment
The horrors of the Holocaust could never deter those who, despite differing insights and objectives, successfully contributed to saving human life at that dark time. Now, almost 90 years later, more stories are being shared that demonstrates the power of collective will, initiative from individuals, and randomness of human events.
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