How to mark kindertransport 80th
THIS MONTH marks the 80th anniversary since the beginning of the kindertransport, which saw the UK take in nearly 10,000 children, mostly Jewish, from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland, in the final months before World War Two. Many were the only members of their families to survive the Holocaust. A number of events have been planned to commemorate the anniversary.
NOVEMBER 6
JW3: Kindersang, a newly composed music theatre piece to commemorate the kindertransport, will get its UK premiere at the Jewish community centre in north London. Eleven poems by Lotte Kramer, a kindertransport survivor, have been set to newly composed music.
NOVEMBER 8
The Jewish Museum, Camden: An exhibition on the kindertransport will run until February 10. It will focus on the stories of six people who were kindertransport refugees, and will include filmed testimony and objects which the survivors brought with them. Talks will also be held, including at least one event featuring a kindertransport survivor.
NOVEMBER 15
Quaker Friend’s House, Euston: A commemoration is to be held in central London for those who arrived on the kindertransport, their descendants, foster families who took in children, and faith communities and charities. Attendance by invitation only. It is to be hosted by Lord Dubs, a kindertransport survivor; and Barbara Winton, the daughter of Sir Nicholas, who helped save more than 650 Czech children as part of the kindertransport.
NOVEMBER 22
St John’s Wood Liberal Synagogue: A memorial concert will take place one day after the 80th anniversary of the kindertransport debate in Parliament, with the aim of raising funds for the Wiener Library, the world’s oldest institution devoted to studying the Shoah.
NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 1
Various synagogues: World Jewish Relief organising a kindertransport Shabbat. WJR’s predecessor, the Central British fund for Germany Jewry (CBF), was instrumental in orchestrating the kindertransport, along with organisations such as the Quakers. WJR said it would seek to get a number of shuls to read out special prayers, dedicate a sermon to the subject or organise a communal activity related to the anniversary.
JANUARY 23-24, 2019
The Institute of Advanced Education at University College London is holding a conference on “The kindertransport 80 Years On: Critical Approaches to kindertransport Research and Historiography.”