ITE session: The Kindertransport – refugees from racist persecution
APPENDIX 1 - Notes on the context of the Kindertransport
Hitler came to power in 1933 following a period of economic depression and catastrophic
inflation, and escalating dissatisfaction with the government of the Weimar Republic.
Hitler had been able to capitalise on resentment from the Versailles Treaty which had
marked the end of WW1, and stripped Germany of power and status in Europe. Using his
own charismatic speech-making ability and a variety of very effective propaganda
techniques, including huge pageant-like marches, music, flag waving, film, etc. he
persuaded a very large number of ordinary Germans that he would be able to solve the
country’s problems and improve the standard of life for everyone. His National Socialist
agenda promised employment, and the revival of German pride and identity as leaders in
the world. Along with a campaign of terror against any dissidents, the propaganda
machine was an important part of the way Hitler manipulated people and kept power.
Though a minority, Hitler’s party gained the largest number of seats in the government.
One of his first actions was to pass an ‘Enabling Bill’ that gave him dictatorial powers and
he immediately took over the trade unions, sending trade union leaders to newly
constructed concentration camps.
Within a short time of gaining power Adolf Hitler turned Germany into a fascist state,
in which patriotism, national unity, hatred of communism, admiration of military values
and unquestioning obedience were paramount. Control of manufacture and labour was also
part of the national socialist agenda as well as removal of all potential opposition.
Neither individuals nor political groups had any freedom to protest in Hitler's Germany.
Supervised by the Minister for Propaganda, Goebbels, the press was censored to ensure
support. The Communist Party and the Social Democrat Party were banned, and by the
end of 1933 over 150,000 political prisoners were in concentration camps. The Gestapo
also began arresting beggars, prostitutes, homosexuals, alcoholics and anyone who was
incapable of working. Once in power Hitler revived the anti-Semitic ideas, which had
been part of his political platform in earlier years, scapegoating Jews, among other
things, for German defeat in WW1, and being responsible for Germany’s poor industrial
record after the war. Meanwhile, Hitler’s methods of regenerating the German economy
included public works and rearmament – despite the Versailles Treaty which forbade
this.
The campaign to get Jews to leave Germany, through making life very unpleasant started
in 1933. Hostility towards Jews increased, fanned by Nazis. Placards saying "Jews not
admitted” began to appear all over Germany. In some parts of the country Jews were
banned from public parks, swimming pools and public transport. Germans were
discouraged from employing Jewish doctors and lawyers. Jewish civil servants, teachers
and those employed by the mass media were sacked. Members of the SA (brownshirts)
put pressure on people not to buy goods produced by Jewish companies.
Many Jewish people who could no longer earn a living made plans to leave the country,
but found themselves dependent on the goodwill of countries outside Germany being
prepared to take them. Only those who were sufficiently wealthy could afford to go.
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Britain in particular put stringent condidt5ions on entry, which many Jews could not
meet.
In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws on Citizenship and Race were passed: Jews could no longer
be citizens of Germany and it became illegal for Jews to marry Aryans.
Kristallnacht (Crystal Night – the night of the broken glass) 9th-10th November, 1938,
was a turning point which disabused any Jews who had believed a reasonable life might
still be possible in Nazi Germany. Organised by the Nazis, over 7,500 Jewish shops were
destroyed and 400 synagogues were burnt down. Ninety-one Jews were killed and
between 20-30,000 were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Though the
numbers of Jews applying to leave escalated after Kristallnacht, England and other
‘nations of asylum’ as they were called, continued to operate a very selective system,
declaring that they had reached saturation point. However, after Kristallnacht, following
a delegation from the Council of German Jewry to the Prime Minister, Neville
Chamberlain, the British Government gave permission for Jewish children under the age
of 17 to be admitted. A ‘Refugee Children’s Movement’ was set up to co ordinate the
rescue. Foster parents had to be found in Britain, and the children who would leave
Germany and Austria identified. Between Kristallnacht and the outbreak of war, about
10,000 children came to Britain – leaving their parents and older siblings behind, who
were not granted entry mostly, never to be seen again. Among these children was
Werner Pfeifer, whose father was to share a room with Anne Frank in the Annexe on
Prinsesgracht in Amsterdam, before they were betrayed. Werner says ‘I did not know it
was the last goodbye.’
2
APPENDIX 2 - A selective mind map of the period 1933 – 1938
economic depression + inflation in 20s & 30s
Hitler's National Socialist Party elected 1933
promising to regenerate Germany & restore
National pride
Hitler creates a fascist state with
expansionist policies
economic regeneration fostered
through public works
and rearmament
In power, Hitler suppresses
Socialist/Communist opposition
and Trade Unions;creates concentration camps
to which dissidents removed
cult of 'Aryanism'
promoted; non Aryans
including Jews, Gypsies
Blacks all branded
'inferior'
Jews in particular targeted
as responsible for Germany's
economic/social difficulties
homosexuals, mentally ill;
disabled rounded up into camps ;
some murdered to preserve
pure Aryan heritage
1935 Nuremberg Laws
limit Jews participation in
economic life & withdraw
citizenship rights from them
'uniformed 'brownshirts'
start intimidating/attacking
people seen as
inferior or dissident
Jews increasingly trying to
emigrate from Germany
1938 Kristallnacht
Night of the Broken Glass
Jewish synagogues and businesses
attacked and smashed. Many Jews taken away
to concentration camps
Austria incorporated
into German Reich
1938
Chamberlain goes to Munich
Appeals to British government to help
Jews lead to government sponsored plan
to get Jewish children out - leads to
Kindertransport late 38 till start of WW2
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Appendix 3
Extracts from I Came Alone: The Stories of the Kindertransports Edited by
Bertha Leverton and Shmuel Lowensohn (1990), Book Guild
Liesl Munden
(Heilbronner, Dusseldorf), Sussex, UK
You gave me life
And nurtured it with love;
You taught me right from wrong
Trust in the One above.
For fifteen years I stayed
Within the family fold
Then sent away from you
To England I was told
.
You gave me life anew
With greater pangs of pain
Since you were well aware
We’d never meet again.
You made a choice
So many years ago
Such selfless love
When you did need me so.
And in a way
My need was much the same
Though never given voice
Adds sadness to my shame.
Could I have known
Or felt what you went through
I should have tried to be
Much more in debt to you.
For I am here
And lived a life so free
Which you twice over gave
So generously to me.
On 24 August 1939, I left my home, my parents and all my other relatives and many friends. I
was fifteen years old.
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Shmeul Lowensohn
(Vienna), Radlett Herts UK
‘My parents, my sister and I lived in a flat in Vienna in the 1930s but life became
impossible when the Nazis came to power with the Anschluss in March 1938. My
father’s business was taken away from him and he had to resort to menial jobs to keep
us going. Our situation worsened rapidly and almost all aspects of civilized life were
denied to us. A Nazi official took a great liking to our flat and he took it from us. We
were thrown out onto the street but managed to find shelter with friends. Jews were
harassed on the streets; my sister and I were picked up and held for several days. My
sister was forced to scrub pavements and I was expelled from the school
(Gymnasium) at the age of thirteen.
We then got to hear of a scheme set up in Britain to save Jewish children by getting
them out of Nazi countries. Although I was very young I did voluntary work at the
Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (Jewish Community) offices in Vienna, and my father
insisted that I include my name on one of the lists of children to be saved. He knew
full well that, if I were to leave, we would be unlikely to see each other ever again.
The day came when my parents took me to the railway station. I need not, nor can I,
describe our feelings as the train pulled out of the station. I now admire their heroism,
and they were not even allowed to come near the train to say good-bye but were held
back by the Nazi police behind a barrier. I never saw my parents again – they died in
a Nazi gas oven. None of the thousands of children who were brought out to life and
freedom, can ever forget the selfless gesture of their beloved parents. Most
fortunately, my sister managed to get to Palestine in June 1939 and after the war we
were able to meet again. She lived in Palestine, later Israel, until her untimely death
two years ago.
As for me, all I had with me on the train and boat to Britain to begin my new life was
a pack of food, a tiny case of belongings and a number on a string round my neck.
Two days later we landed at Dovercourt on the Essex coast. Every day we stood in a
line to be inspected and selected by the host families, a scene repeated at several other
locations. I and other boys of fourteen years were not chosen and were sent to Barham
House, a special school near Ipswich.
I was able to correspond with my parents via the Red Cross, but as the months went
by this became increasingly difficult and there were long periods when I heard
nothing from Vienna. The last communication I had was in 1942. I do not know
exactly what happened to my dear parents – where they were taken to and what
miseries they had to endure in their last days and this alone gives me much grief. I
ascertained after the war that they were taken to the Izbica concentration camp where
they perished.
Some of the ‘unadopted’ children were not cared for by Jews and I was sent to live in
a hostel in Birmingham, which was set up and financed by Christadelphians. When I
reached the age of sixteen, I was interned as an ‘enemy alien’. We were shunted
around the country and finally finished up in the Isle of Man.
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George Bendori
(Rechelmann, Stettin) Rishon Le Zion, Israel
Separation: Our parents knew that they would never see us again We, the children,
understood only that we would not see our families for a long time. We will never
forget the heartbreak, the clinging together for the last time.
Freedom: Who can ever forget the feeling of having escaped it all even though we
were only eleven years of age.
Crossing the German-Dutch border the train could not move quickly enough for us as
we feared a last minute hitch. The final inspection of documents, the ruthless way of
going through our meagre possessions carried out by stern SS whose menacing looks
left no doubt in our minds as to what they would like to do to us.
And then the kind smiling Dutch ticket collectors who came into the department to
ensure that nothing untoward would happen to us from then on. It was all behind us,
we were free. Only our unfortunate parents were left behind to face it all. Because of
their foresight we were saved.
A feeling, impossible to put into words. Impossible for someone to grasp who had not
experienced it.
And then to Dovercourt. Bitterly cold in the winter of 1938-39 but still heavenly. The
dedicated and kind staff who looked after us and did their utmost to make us forget
what our little minds had absorbed.
We had funny moments too at Dovercourt. Inspected by prospective foster parents we
felt like we were in a zoo. On Saturday and Sunday you had to be spic and span. It
was a game and we quickly got used to it.
Let us give a moment’s thought to those who made it possible. The aftermath of the
Crystal Night of 9 November 1938 brought about another of Britain’s finest hours.
The British have always championed the cause of the oppressed, and Britain was one
of the very few democracies at that time to open its gates to us – absorbing more
children than many other countries combined. It is something in which Britain can
take pride.
There are too many names to mention, all gallant and righteous people who combined
together to spur the government into action. Let it suffice to say ‘We are forever
grateful’.
Let us never forget those numerous noble people who were not Jewish, but who felt a
deep shame at the inhumanity exploding in Europe. They opened their arms to many
of us, took us into their homes, provided for and kept us – giving us their very best.
In conclusion, let it be said
‘Britain, without you we would not be here today, thanks’.
6
Gideon Behrendt
(Berlin), Natanya, Israel
Another bleak November morning in Berlin. The fog and the cold drizzle got to my
skin before I reached my school in Rykestrasse. School and Synagogue formed one
complex unit and the school yard was between the two buildings. I could smell burnt
wood and furniture. There had been a fire during the night but I could not detect any
sign of a fire brigade having been there. A policeman stood near the burnt entrance of
the Synagogue. He looked bored. We entered the school as usual but talked to each
other in whispers. We did not realise that we had witnessed history in the making the
morning after the Kristallnacht.
In retrospect it seems as though I dreamed this period. I just accepted being different
from my classmates. I had to run and escape the mob of boys who found it fun to wait
for me on my way home to pounce on me like a pack of dogs on a rabbit. I didn’t
keep count of torn trousers and shirts, the black eyes, the bruises, bloody knees,
elbows, the tears and my father’s reproaches. ‘A Jewish boy doesn’t brawl in the
streets, just run away’ he said. In a short time I became a good runner. By 1936 – I
was eleven years old – I even became fairly good at boxing and wrestling. That year I
had to leave my German school for the Jewish school in Rykestrasse.
Jews were not to mingle with Aryans. I still see the signs in the shop windows saying
‘Juden verboten’, ‘Juden uneervunscht’, the writing on the wall, ‘Juden raus’,
‘Judasverrecke’, drawings everywhere, the yellow benches in the public parks
marked. ‘Nur furJuden’.
On the 13 June at exactly 5.50 am - it was already light – someone knocked on our
door. I opened it. Two tall men stood in the doorway and asked quite politely for my
father.
‘Just a few routine questions to be answered at the local police station. He’ll be home
in a matter of minutes’, they said.
The two were Gestapo. I went to school and didn’t even notice that three of my
classmates did not come to school that morning. Only the next day did I hear that their
fathers were visited by the Gestapo. Four weeks passed without a word or sign from
my father until the day a printed post card arrived from Buchenwald saying ‘I am
well, please send me some money’. Since my mother had died years before, this is
how I became de facto an orphan and was accepted into a Jewish orphanage.
On 1 December 1938 some of Berlin’s Jewish orphans were sent to England with a
Kindertransport. There were no heart-rending scenes since none of us left much
behind. Those who stayed behind envied us. My brother Heinz wished me farewell as
the train left the station and I awoke from my childish nightmare.
Some of us were given a home with English families; others like myself left
Dovercourt for hostels in different parts of Britain. About fifty of us went to Leeds
which became our home town, to the hostel in Stainbeck Lane which became just
‘home’.
7
We were lucky and had the local refugee committee to support us and take care of our
daily needs. Members of the refugee committee, mostly in the clothing industry,
donated our clothing. One fine day we found ourselves all wearing the same type and
colour of suits, the same hats, shirts and ties etc. We must have been quite
conspicuous seen together in our refugee hostel uniform.
There was good old Mr Bently and two young teachers teaching us English. The
grand old man tried his utmost to turn us into perfect English gentlemen overnight.
We learned English manners, customs, community singing and history.
Mr Model, himself a refugee from Hamburg, acted as our housemaster but really he
was more of a father, friend, educator and choirmaster all in one. We all loved Model
deeply. He made us forget the wounds and scars of ‘over there’ and enabled us to
settle down to some sort of normal life.
Anita Chard
(Graetzer, Olomvoc), Sydney, Australia
My name was Anita Graetzer and I was just eight years old. I was one of the lucky
ones because I was with my sister Eva who was thirteen. It was a very frightening
experience, suddenly being sent away and travelling on many trains a long way.
Our first view of London was this large station waiting room where we waited so long
to be collected. Nearly all the children had gone when at last our distant relative came
to pick us up. We went to his elderly mother’s place and were allowed to sleep for
what seemed like ten minutes and were then taken to be fitted for our school uniform.
The best part of this was travelling on a red double decker bus on the front seat
upstairs; which I had never had and it was very exciting.
Late that night, our relative took us by car to Macauley House College in Cuckfield,
Sussex. All I wanted to do was sleep after this long journey. When we arrived I had
the worst fright I could ever remember. There were the headmaster and his wife all in
black. She was in a long black dress and there was this huge open fireplace. I was so
afraid and imagined at any minute I would be thrown into the roaring fire and burnt
alive. Also all the canes lining the walls were not a pleasant sight, although I am not
sure that I knew what they were at that point.
We were taken into a dormitory and although we were really tired we had to have a
bath in two inches of water and then to unpack our suitcases. The matron then sent us
into a dormitory full of girls going to bed in the dark. How was I to know where to get
into bed? The sheets and blankets were tucked in all around. By this time I was really
crying but was told to be quiet and not wake the others, although I didn’t understand a
word of English. This was my first day in England – not a very happy one. Child
psychology and understanding of young children who had suddenly parted from their
parents was unheard of it seemed.
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APPENDIX 4 - Oral History Handout
ORAL HISTORY FOR FOUNDATION SUBJECT HISTORY IN PRIMARY ITE
•
•
History tries to be objective but can’t avoid subjectivity
The evidence from oral history is subjective but the concepts of history (the
way we do history) impose interpretation and thus subjectivity
Oral History Gives Access To:
•
•
•
•
•
‘history from below’
feminist history
underclass, unprivileged, marginalised and minority groups
the ‘unofficial’ views
attitudes, lived experience, interpretation by person producing the evidence
It Can Be:
•
•
empowering
therapeutic and validating
What Is Special About Collecting Evidence Through Oral History?
•
•
•
•
•
You are personally involved in collecting the evidence & how good it is
It’s collaborative and depends greatly on the skill of the interviewer
Closed questions won’t open up the evidence
Oral history isn’t really designed for quantitative research. You might as well
give people a questionnaire.
Its strength lie in opportunities for finding out how people felt or experienced
something
Ethics and Oral History
•
•
•
You have an ethical duty not to exploit people or trick them
Some memories are painful and we should be particularly sensitive not to probe
or upset interviewees
Your interviewee needs to know
o what you’re doing,
o what you’re going to use the material for
What Is Special About Interpreting The Evidence?
Orality and body language –when people ‘tell their story’ it may be subject to:
•
•
Audience effects
performance aspects
We can help children appreciate these effects
9
Preparing Children To Do Oral Interviews
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Allow a reasonable amount of time to prepare and rehearse – perhaps during
literacy time.
Children need to know something about the subject before they prepare the
interview
They should consider the kinds of questions which will give information they
really want. (Factual information is often just about confirming detail or
contextualising the person’s story.)
They should be encouraged to ask questions about how something was
experienced – feelings, enjoyment, reactions
They should think how the interviewee can share the agenda
They should practise asking open questions in class before the visitor comes
Oral testimony is vulnerable to distortions of memory and the tendency to
create coherent and acceptable narratives with hindsight and retelling. Children
can think about the way they remember events in their own lives, and how they
don’t always recall everything with the same certainty.
After The Interview
•
•
Make sure the children write to thank the visitor, or send pictures etc.
Make sure the children do something with the interview – ie interpret it,
consider the points that struck them, how it is similar or different to other
information they have gained.
10
APPENDIX 5 - Teaching Year 6 about The Kindertransport (Britain since the
1930s)
The following scheme of work was taught in a Key Stage 2, Year 6 class, consisting of
children from several different minority ethnic groups, and including children who were
themselves refugees or recent arrivals. Several children had English as an additional
language. This Scheme of Work was developed by Hilary Claire for the QCA’s ‘Respect
for All in History’ website (http://www.qca.org.uk/1581_2469.html)
Aim
•
•
•
To understand the impact of Nazi policies on the Jewish population of Germany
and Austria through a case study of the Kindertransport (the evacuation of
Jewish children to Great Britain to escape Nazi persecution) and Britain’s role in
saving children.
To make links between issues of flight from persecution in a historical context
and contemporary circumstances
To put the British experience of Blitz, rationing and evacuation into the context
of the wider world.
This activity relates to the scheme of work unit 9 in the Key Stage 2 History PoS 'What
was it like for children in the Second World War?' It also relates to aspects of the
PSHE/Citizenship Guidelines in the Primary National Curriculum, 1a, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e,
2g, 2h, 2i, 4a, 4b, 4d, 4f,
Session 1
The teacher used this session to introduce the new topic of Britain since the 30s and
said they would be concentrating on the period 1930 – 1940 for the moment.
She asked if they knew anyone older than 70. This led to a discussion about people who
would have been children or young people in the 1930s and ideas about what life would
have been like for them. Using a time line, the teacher used the discussion to develop
chronological awareness. Using a small pack of pictures which she had collected, showing
ordinary people’s lives in Britain, the children looked for similarities and differences in
lives in the 30s in Britain and now, and charted these on a ready- prepared writing
frame.
Similarities: the 1930s and now
Children went to school just like we do and
carried school bags, though they look old
fashioned
They’re sitting round the kitchen table
having tea just like our family does
Differences: the 1930s and now
The clothes look very different – the boys
are wearing shorts down to their knees and
long socks; their hair styles are different
The stove looks very different from ours,
there’s no microwave, and no fridge and no
electric kettle
The lesson finished in the whole group with a look at the time line to help the children
locate the period they would be studying. This extended over the whole C20th century,
concentrating on the period since 1930. As well as cards which the teacher had prepared
(dates of World War 1), Wall Street Crash (1929), Hitler comes to power in Germany
(1933), there were blank cards for events which some children volunteered – for
11
example the beginning and end of World War 11, the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936,
Neil Armstrong’s moon landing in 1969, partition of India and Pakistan 1947.
Session 2
Using a large Peters-projection map of the world, the teacher gave brief information
about the German invasions of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The teacher questioned the children about their knowledge of Nazis. Referring to ‘A
Candle in the Dark’ by Adèle Geras (which had been read in story time) the children
were able to say that the Nazis particularly disliked Jewish people. The teacher used
the word 'persecute' and talked to the children about what it meant.
She contextualised the Kindertransport in the longer history of Nazi persecution, going
back to 1933, the Nuremberg Laws, and particularly, Kristallnacht (the night of the
nationwide Nazi pogrom against the Jews in Germany and Austria) on 9 November 1938.
Several children were able to explain what had happened on Kristallnacht. She then told
the children about the plan to save Jewish children, and gave some information about
the people who sponsored children.
Working in pairs, the children now did a matching exercise with events and dates to
check that they had understood the sequence of events they had heard about. Thus,
they had to match the word ‘Kristallnacht’ with 1938, and ‘Hitler comes to power’ with
1933.
When they had done, still working in pairs, they created a small time line with the events
in order, ending with the invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War in
September 1939. The purpose of pair work was to support children with EAL and recent
arrivals who had more difficulty following the curriculum that those who had been longer
in English schooling.
The matching exercise given to the children:
12
War
declared
1936
Nuremberg
Laws
passed
1945
Hitler
comes to
power
1933
1938
1935
Kristall
1939
1944
Olympic games
in Berlin (Jesse
Owens wins 4
gold medals)
end of
war
nacht
1941
invasion
of Poland
D-day
landings
Munich Chamberlain says
there wil be no war
Matching dates and events - exercise for children
Session 3
The session started with the teacher reminding them that they had heard about the
plan to save the German Jewish children in their last lesson. She divided the class into
small groups of 3 or 4, and gave each group a small pack of pictures of children leaving
Germany and arriving in Britain, as well as testimonies and poems from the survivors.
These had been prepared in advance using the book ‘I came alone’ and ‘The last goodbye’.
They used these to prepare freeze-frame tableaux to show emotions as well as 'what
happened'. The children were familiar with freeze frame work and settled quickly to
this, without needing explanations. The teacher circulated round the groups and
clarified some misunderstandings (eg 'why didn't they just run and run until they got
away from Hitler?').
The children now developed three tableaux showing the sequence of events they had
found out about, shared these with each other and critiqued each other’s work. The
teacher invited them to take the packs home and said that in the following session they
would be doing some writing, and would watch a video.
Session 4
In this session, the children watched a section of the video ‘Passover: a taste of
freedom’, in which Kindertransport survivors in Britain talk about their memories. Back
in the classroom, in the role of refugees on the Kindertransport, the children wrote a
13
letter home to their parents about their experience so far in England. The teacher
reminded them to draw on the material they had worked with in the previous session for
freeze framing, as well as on ‘Candle in the Dark’ and the video.
Session 5
This session was devoted to preparation for an oral history interview. A survivor of the
Kindertransport, Otto Plaschkes, had agreed to come and talk to the children and
before he came, the children prepared questions for the interview. The teacher helped
them structure their interviews by suggesting that they could ask questions about life in
Germany and leaving Germany, the journey to Britain and arriving in Britain, and his
experience when he had settled with foster parents. She was aware that the memories
could be sensitive even after 60 years, so she helped the children consider Otto's
possible feelings about this history, as well as helping them develop open-ended
questions. The children knew that the majority of Transport survivors never saw their
parents again, and discussed why it might be insensitive to ask about Otto's parents.
They also practised asking open questions and wrote their questions out in preparation
for the visit.
Session 6
Otto Plashkes came to the school to speak to the children. After he had gone, the
children reviewed their feelings about his visit and discussed the aspects that they had
found particularly moving or surprising (for example, Otto did not arrive at Dover Court
like the majority of people who spoke on the video, and his foster parents were arranged
from Austria before he left, so he was not ‘chosen’ by foster parents on his arrival).
They then drafted letters of thanks including issues which had been particularly
memorable.
Session 7
Using the techniques of ‘talk partners’ the teacher conducted a whole class discussion
session about whether the British government should have made efforts to allow more
children and more Jewish adults to enter the country. The teacher sensitively reminded
them that there were similar issues in the air currently, and that both political parties
were aiming to limit the numbers of refugees coming into the country.
After the children had had an opportunity to talk in their pairs, she invited them to
contribute to whole class discussion, in a circle, without forcing anyone to contribute.
This enquiry extended the children's existing knowledge about persecution of the Jews
in Germany. The role play, letters and interview were designed to help them think about
what it was like to be a political refugee who could not go home safely and who had to
adapt to a very different culture. The teacher noted that both their letters home and
the discussion before Otto's visit showed that many of the children were making links
with contemporary events.
Through reading some of the testimonies, the children thought about the sacrifice of
the parents who had had to say goodbye, the children who were left behind and those
who did not survive. The enquiry also focused on the perspectives and attitudes of the
people who sponsored and gave homes to the children. The children were able to see
that history is not 'one story' but needs to embody the perspectives of the different
people involved. It was important to make links with current situations and develop
14
children’s empathetic understanding about the plight of refugees, asylum seekers,
newcomers with English as an additional language. The work thus exploited links with
concepts of citizenship, in promoting respect for difference and empathy with the
situations of refugees.
The policies of the Kindertransport programme were not examined in detail –it is
important to remember that this period is normally very well covered in KS3. However,
the children had the opportunity to explore issues around personal as well as government
responses and responsibilities.
(Postcript – the teacher did not actually do the following, but she might have referred
to Otto’s contribution as a teacher and film maker, and provided the children with names
of other people who had been refugees, who had made important contributions in their
new countries and had them to do some web-based research themselves.)
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES
http://www.jcore.org.uk/
http://www.ajr.org.uk/kindertransport.htm
http://www.age-exchange.org.uk/htm/publications.htm - Age Exchange has a number of
excellent publications including transcribed oral histories (with good photographic
material)
The Jewish Museum, 129-131 Albert Street, Camden Town, NW1 7NB
Claire, H. 2004, ‘Oral history, a powerful tool or a double edged sword?’ in Primary
History, issue 38, Winter 2004, pp 20 – 24.
Geras, A 1995, A candle in the dark, Flashbacks, A and C Black
Innocenti, Roberto, 1985, Rose Blanche (text by Ian McEwan) Jonathan Cape, London
Leverton, B and Lowensohn, S (eds), 1990, I came alone: the stories of the
Kindertansports. Sussex, The Book Guild
The Jewish Museum, 1996, The Last Goodbye: the rescue of children from Nazi Europe:
an educational resource about the Kindertransport, London
Jewish Council for Racial Equality (2004) Unaccompanied Refugee Children: Have the
lessons been learnt? JCORE, London
Examines the treatment of unaccompanied child refugees today using testimonies of the
Kindertransport and provides an insight into the experience of being separated from
one’s family and thrust into a new culture and an unfamiliar society. There is information
about the contemporary experiences of unaccompanied children today and a variety of
case studies that describe the plight of refugee children. There is an example of how a
school assembly on this subject might be conducted with suggested follow-up activities.
The booklet also provides a list of useful contacts.
Videos
‘Passover – a taste of freedom’ producer: Jonathan Fulford, BBC1, 2000 (25 minutes).
The video intersperses contemporary material about celebrating Passover with the
stories of children who came to Britain on the Kindertransport.
‘Into the arms of strangers – stories of the Kindertransport’, director Mark Jonathan
Harris, producer Deborah Oppenheimer, BBC2, 20004 (24/1/04)
Practical books about oral history for teachers.
Maggie Hewitt and Annie Harris (1992) Talking Time: A guide to Oral History for
Schools, Learning by Design, Tower Hamlets Education.
Paul Thompson and Rob Perks, (Ed) Telling it how it was: a guide to recording oral
history, BBC Education.
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Alan Redfern (1996) Talking in Class: oral history and the National Curriculum, Oral
History Association.
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