Figure 1.--A poignant photo of two German Jewish children arriving in Harwich, England (December 12, 1938). They were among the earliest arrivals as part of the Kindertransport program. These children are only about 6 or 7 years old. Notice the tags with numbers that were used to track and identify them. The children seem to be treating the journey cheerfully as an adventure, but they must have experienced acute homesickeness being shipped to a foreign country and culture without their parents. Kinderstransport children were often taken into British households and treated almost like adopted children. The children are warmly dressed for December weather in Germany. The girl wears leggings that button up the sides of her legs and have a strap that goes under the soles of her shoes. The boy wears short trousers and black long stockings.

The Refugee Children's Movement (RCM) was set up in Bloomsberry House and did their best to keep track and assist the children. The first ferries with the Kindertransport children reached Harwich, England (December 2, 1938), Each group was about 200 children, although this varied. As the Kindertrasport progressed, about two groups of children per week landed. This picked up (June and July 1939). Groups began landing daily. The last Kindertransport group left Germany (September 1), the day the Wehrmacht invaded Poland. This ended most of the Kindertransports. There was, however, one last group. A ship managed to make it out of the Netherlands (May 14, 1940). This was the day that the Dutch army surrendered to NAZI Germany. The RCM met the ferries when the children arrived. Each child had a numbered tag. One Kindertraport child recalls thinking that with his tag he was being treated rather like a parcel. Only as an adult well after the War did he come to understand what had happened to him. The tag number was his or her number in the group they were with. They found a variety of accommodation for the children. The children with prearranged sponsors were sent immediately on to London. The many unsponsored children were sent to Dovercourt and other transient camps until permanent arrangements could be made. The children were eventually dispersed throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They were taken in by Jewish and non-Jewish families. They were both billeted and fostered. Others were placed in orphanages, group homes, and other institutions. Soon the children appeared in schools throughout the country, most speaking very little English.

Refugee Children's Movement (RCM)

The Refugee Children's Movement (RCM) was the British namne for the Kindertrahnsport. It was also the nasme of the non-sectarian organization that administered the effort. nOffices were set up in Bloomsberry House. The RCM sent representatives to Germany and Austria to help organize the selection and transport of the children. Home Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare broadcast an appeal for the RCM requesting foster pasrents on the BBC Home Service (Novedmber 25), only a few days after Kristaknacht. There were cimmediately 500 offers. RCM volunteers visited the potential foster homes and reported conditions there. The applicants did not have to be Jewish. Nor were they too concerbned about motives and character. This was an emergency. The RCM was primasry making sure that the families were respectable and the homes clean. Once in Britain, the staff there did their best to keep track and assist the children. Women plasyed key roles. The three chairwomen of the regional and local committees of the RCM were Greta Burkill, Professor Edith Morley, and Ruth Simmons. The RCM Treasurer was Elaine Blond. Lola Hahn Warburg, a refugee herself, often took on difficult cases involving Kindertransport children and the foster parents. Dorothy Hardisty was the RCM general secretary. [Oldfield]

Ferries

The Kindertransport Children mosdtly arrived in Britain on ferries. The principal ferry route was from the Hook of Holland to Harwich in Essex (northeast of London). They ferry landed the children on Parkeston Quay. The first ferries with the Kindertransport children reached Harwich, England (December 2, 1938), Each group was about 200 children, although this varied. As the Kindertrasport progressed, about two groups of children per week landed. This picked up (June and July 1939). Groups began landing daily. A few groups were accomodated on liners in Hamburg, but the NAZI authorities for the most part refused to allow the children to use German ports. Many of the children got sick from sea sickness on the ferries. The last Kindertransport group left Germany (September 1), the day the Wehrmacht invaded Poland. This ended most of the Kindertransports. There was, however, one last group. A ship managed to make it out of the Netherlands (May 14, 1940). This was the day that the Dutch army surrendered to NAZI Germany.

Port Rerception

The RCM met the ferries when the children arrived. The children were tired and disoriented. Some had spent 2 days or more on trains and ferries. They were cofused and missed their parents. Now they were in a foreign country, most for the first time. Very few spoke any English. They were completely dependant on total strangers. Each child had a numbered tag. One Kindertraport child recalls thinking that with his tag he was being treated rather like a parcel. Only as an adult well after the War did he come to understand what had happened to him. The tag number was his or her number in the group they were with. The children for which accomodations had been found were then taken to the train station and headed for London. Many of the children who first arrivedf on the early transports from Germany and Austria had pre-arranged sponsies. Later arrivals were less likerly to have sponsors. The unsponsored children were taken to transit camps until permanent arrangements could be made.

London

The Many of the Kindertransport children arrived in London at Liverpool Street. It was the primary Londion statiomn serving the East Coast ports. As a result, Liverpool Station was chosen as the suiye for Flor Kent's Kindertransport Memorial (2003). From London a variety of accomodations were found for the children.Some of the children were met by relatives or their sponsors who became foster parents.

Transit Camps

One of the most important transit camps was Dovercourt, an unused summer camp near Harwich where the Holland Hook ferries landed. Pakefield Holiday Camp in Lowestoft and Barham House in Broadstairs were also transit camps. Dovercourt is a small seaside town in Essex near Harwich where some of the ferries were landing Kindertrahnsport children. Located there was an unoccupied summer camp. The RCM managed to obtain the use of for the arriving children. Those children when they reached British ports were sent by train to London id they had sponsors. The unsponsored children wee bussed to Dovercourt. The camp soon filled up. The staff worked hard to find plasces for the children so space could be freed up for new arrivals. The cazmp was managed by Anna Essinger who ran a private girls' school in Kent. Dovercourt was staffed by volunteers. The children were in a state of shock. The younger children had no idea why their pasrebnts had sent them off on a train. The older children were aprehensive about their future and terribly worried about their parents and other family mdembers. Every Sunday there was a kind of open house where prospective foster parents came to meet the children and pick a child that would fit into their family. Of course this became an ordeal for the childre, whether they would be chosen and by wshom. Siblings in particulasr worried. Most of the older siblings were told tgo look aftrer theuir little borther or sister. Alone in a strange ciountry, they espedcially feared being broken up. During the winter a high tide brokr the seawall and flooded the camp. The children were moved to an old workhouse near Ipswich.

Accomodation

The RCM found a variety of accommodation for the children. The children with prearranged sponsors were sent immediately on to London where coonnections with their sponsors was arranged. The Jewish Refugee Committee handled the children differebntly based on age. The younger children who required the greatest care were placed in private foster homes. The older children were commonly settled in in long-term hostels which the RCM funded. Children in between might be placed in schools. The children were eventually dispersed throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They were taken in by both Jewish and non-Jewish families. They were both billeted and fostered. Others were placed in schools, orphanages, group homes, hostels, and other institutions.

Schooling

Soon the children appeared in schools throughout the country, most speaking very little English.

Older Children

Fifth columist activities made headlines in Britain at the beginning of the war. This there were concern about German citizens in Britain. Some 1,000 Kindertransport children over the age of 16 years were interred as ‘enemy aliens’ (1940). About 400 of these internees were transported overseas to Canada and Australia. When the press reported on this there was an adverse punlic reaction. Many of the deportees were eventually returned. The older boys got involved in war work or volunteered for the Alien Pioneer Corp. An estimsted 1,000 German and Austrian teenagers, motly Kinfertransport boys, joined the British armed forces, and served in msny different units, including combat units.

Sources

Oldfield, Sybil. "It Is Usually She": The Role of British Women in the Rescue and Care of the Kindertransport Kinder," guest eds. Guest Editor: Wolfgang Benz, Claudia Curio, Andrea Hammel. Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies Volume 23, Number 1, (Fall 2004). This was a special Special Issue: Kindertransporte 1938/39 - Rescue and Integration.

Created: 3:42 AM 11/15/2007
Last updated: 10:31 PM 7/8/2010