The Wiener Library

Kindertransport

Boys being given a wash on arrival               Behind the Dutch border             Refugees being served a meal by
    in Holland                                                                                                           the Mayor of Naarden/Holland

Arrival in Rotterdam, Before boarding the ship, Hook Passing through UK Customs
1 December 1938 of Holland

On the way to Britain

The routes
The transports had been given permission to travel through Holland, with trains arriving in the Hook of Holland and boats setting over to Harwich. An alternative route took the transport from Hamburg to Southampton.

Accompanying the children
The accompanying adults were authorised to take the children as far as England. In order to prevent them from taking the opportunity to escape, the Gestapo had stipulated that all Kindertransporte would be stopped straight away if any of the helpers did not return to Germany instantly. This required a careful scrutiny of all potential helpers, as one individual’s actions could have jeopardised the survival of thousands of children.

The journey
During the long journey, the children passed their time chatting, playing instruments they had packed - against the regulations - and eating the sandwiches they had been given by their parents. Although the official minimum age for the transport was two, older children found themselves looking after babies and toddlers as well as their younger silblings. On leaving German territory, SS officers entered some of the trains and harrassed the children by looking through luggage in order to confiscate any money, jewellery, or other valuables that their parents may have tried to smuggle into their cases.

The first welcome
A recurring theme in the Kinder testimonies is a sense of relief as they crossed the border. For the first time in their young lives, the children were made to feel welcome in a country: volunteers offered gifts and warm meals, and women from the Dutch Refugees Committee brought hot chocolate and biscuits to the trains.

At last when I could no longer doubt that I had excaped I sent a thanks giving to Heaven, and I could hardly help crying like a little child. (15 year old boy)

The relief getting to Holland was immediate, you felt different in a free country, the ladies came on the trains and they gave us sweets and drinks and food, it was a wonderful thing. Only then did we realise the oppression we'd left behind, you don't realise what you're missing when you haven't got freedom.