Kindertransport

A special interest group of the AJR, the Kindertransport represent the children who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia between 1938 and 1939 and prior to the start of the Second World War.

Today, the Kinder organises monthly lunches at the Paul Balint AJR Day Centre which includes a guest speaker. The Kindertransport management also arrange regular activities and outings and members receive the quarterly KT Newsletter (click here for recent editions). For more details about the activities of the Kindertransport please contact kt@ajr.org.uk

Kindertransport survey launched
‘Making New Lives in Britain’

A unique survey entitled ‘Making New Lives in Britain’ is to record the Continental background, journey to Britain, reception and subsequent experiences of the almost 10,000 predominantly Jewish children of the Kindertransport. The survey was conceived and its contents designed by leading members of the AJR’s Kindertransport special interest group, with support and funding from the AJR Charitable Trust.

Former ‘Kinder’ who are AJR members, and as many as possible of those who are unaffiliated, are being sent a Questionnaire, the answers to which will form the basis of an archive of inestimable value to historians. A Supplementary Questionnaire, requesting basic details about Kinder who are deceased, is also part of the pack.

The dramatic rescue of children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia involved unimaginable parental sacrifice. It brought these unaccompanied children across Europe and the Channel by train and boat to security in Britain between December 1938 and the outbreak of war in September 1939.

As Bertha Leverton MBE, founder and organiser of the original Reunion of Kindertransport in 1988, pointed out, ‘It is hard to credit that before 1988 hardly anyone had heard of, or was the least bit interested in, the Kindertransport. Yet today … we are researched, filmed, written about and recognised as part of British history.’

Although many memoirs have been published, no comprehensive historical study, archival record, or survey of the Kindertransport has previously been undertaken. A project which began early last year as an investigation by Rev Bernd Koschland into the hostels into which he and most of the other children were housed on their arrival in Britain was, at Bertha Leverton’s suggestion, expanded into a comprehensive investigation based on her initial draft questionnaire. Hermann Hirschberger, KT–AJR Chairman and a retired chartered engineer, Bertha Leverton, and Ronald Channing of the AJR, with a social science background, refined the contents over several months. The AJR funded the legal advice necessary to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

Versions of the survey are being distributed to known Kinder in the USA and Israel and, through national publicity, it is hoped that many other Kinder who settled in these and other parts of the world, or their surviving family or friends, will contact the AJR and request a Questionnaire and/or a Supplementary Questionnaire. If you know of any other Kinder, we would be grateful if you would write to us with their contact details.

Please direct requests for Questionnaires, the provision of Kinder names and addresses and any other enquiries in the first instance to Andrea Goodmaker, Kindertransport Survey, AJR, Jubilee House, Merrion Avenue, Stanmore. Middlesex HA7 4RL, England, tel 020 8385 3070, fax 020 8385 3080, email andrea@ajr.org.uk

Click here for the Kindertransport survey press release

Liverpool Street station statue

The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) and World Jewish Relief (WJR) are delighted to announce a new commemorative sculpture in honour of the Kindertransport to be located at Liverpool Street Station.



Unveiled in September 2006, the bronze sculpture, designed by the renowned Israeli artist and former Kindertransport refugee Frank Meisler, will be surrounded by 16 milestones each bearing the name of a city from where the Kindertransports departed.

Andrew Kaufman, Chairman of the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) said, “We are delighted to be the principal benefactor in this important project
to commemorate the lives of the youngest victims of Nazism. The statue also pays tribute to the vital role Britain played in saving thousands of children from certain death and serves as a timely reminder of the need to remain vigilant of intolerance and prejudice.”

To read the article that appeared in the Jewish Chronicle click here

Parliament plaque

The Plaque below was unveiled by the Speaker of the House of Commons,
Betty Boothroyd, in the Palace of Westminster on 14 June 1999.