The Kindertransport: Contesting MemoryA timely study of the effects of family separation on child refugees, using newly discovered archival sources from the WWII era: “Highly recommended.” —Choice The Kindertransport—an organized effort to extract children living under the threat of Nazism—lives in the popular memory as well as in literature as a straightforward act of rescue and salvation, but these celebratory accounts leave little room for a deeper, more complex analysis. This volume reveals that in fact many children experienced difficulties with settlement: they were treated inconsistently by refugee agencies, their parents had complicated reasons for giving them up, and their caregivers had a variety of motives for taking them in. Against the grain of many other narratives, Jennifer Craig-Norton emphasizes the use of newly discovered archival sources, which include the correspondence of refugee agencies, carers, Kinder and their parents, and juxtaposes this material with testimonial accounts to show readers a more nuanced and complete picture of the Kindertransport. In an era in which the family separation of refugees has commanded considerable attention, this book is a timely exploration of the effects of family separation as it was experienced by child refugees in the age of fascism. |
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accounts Anglo-Jewry archival record arrived Baumel-Schwartz Bernstein Birmingham boys Brambauer Britain British brother carers challenges Christadelphian Christian correspondence Danziger daughter December documents Edward Pachtman Elsley Zeitlyn England evacuation experiences February February 12 files foster families foster homes foster mother foster parents Fund's German girls Gorowitz Herbert Haberberg Holocaust hostel identity interview Jewish children Jewish Chronicle Jewish Refugee Children Jewish Refugee Fund Josef Kaizer Kamiel Kinder memory Kinder testimony Kindertransport Klarmann Kristallnacht Leeds letters Litvin Litvin report lives London Manfred Movement narrative Nazi never Newman Nicholas Winton PJRF Poland Polenaktion Kinder Polish Fund Polish Jewish Refugee Polish Jews Polish Kinder received refugee agencies Refugee Committee refugee organizations relationships religious rescue responsibility Ruth Sara Samuel Schonfeld Selma sent siblings Simon sister Solomon Schonfeld Sonja story survived Talaton Thea Feliks Thea's Tony Kushner translated from German United Kingdom West London Synagogue wrote Yetty young Zbaszyń Zeitlyn