Into the arms of strangers: stories of the Kindertransport

Between December of 1938 and August of 1939, some 10,000 Jewish and other children were transported from Germany and the German held countries of Austria and Czechoslovakia to Great Britain under the ‘Kindertransport’ initiative. Most were adopted by British families with the majority never seeing their birth parents again. In this documentary, archival footage is interspersed with the recollections of twelve child survivors as well as those of rescuers, parents and foster parents. Through moving, candid, detail-filled commentaries spoken directly to the camera, they each provide personal insights into different aspects of the evacuation. The emotional confusion and pain that is the legacy of the survivors’ extraordinary childhood experiences is poignantly expressed through their conflicting feelings of abandonment, loss, thankfulness, guilt and resentment. (Awards: Winner of ‘Best Documentary Feature’, Academy Awards, 2000)