During the late 1930’s in the time before World War 2 broke out, Jewish people were heavily persecuted in German-occupied territories. Severe anti-semitism caused many Jewish people to be in grave danger, even children. One particularly heinous act called Kristallnacht, which translated means “Night of Broken Glass”, led the British government to rethink their hesitance to refuse Jewish refugees entry to their country. After this, efforts were made to coordinate the rescue of many Jewish people and the focus was heavily on children. Thus, the Kindertransport was born.
On November 9, 1938 in Nazi Germany, over 1,000 synagogues were destroyed, 700 Jewish shops were attacked, and over 90 people were killed in an event labeled Kristallnacht. Hearing about this atrocity promoted a debate in the British House of Commons regarding Jewish refugees. The British government had …show more content…
The British Foreign Minister explained this decision best by stating “Here is a chance of taking the young generation of great people, here is a chance of mitigating to some extent the terrible suffering of their parents and their friends.” (Use citation). The first transport of the Kindertransport arrived in Harwick, Great Britain on December 2, 1938. It brought 200 children from a Jewish orphanage which was destroyed during Kristallnacht. Jewish children would travel by train from central cities such as Berlin, Vienna, and Prague to ports in Belgium and the Netherlands, and from there they would sail to Harwick. Children from rural areas had to travel to these collection points. The last convoy from Germany left September 1, 1939, and the last transport from the Netherlands left on