Rescuing the Children: The Story of the Kindertransport by
Deborah Hodge is a non-fiction book about the
Kindertransport movement; this was an heroic effort made to evacuate as many Jewish children as possible out of
Nazi-controlled Europe just before
World War II really started. This is a part of (pre)-Holocaust history that, sadly, not many people are aware of. In 1938, nine months before war was declared, things were getting more and more dangerous for European Jews.
Hitler had what seems like almost everyone convinced that the Jews were to blame for their hard times, and these people reacted with hatred and violence. Many tried to escape as refugees to other countries, fearing the worst for themselves and their families if they stayed any longer in their native countries - but many were refused entry. The Great Depression gave governments an excuse to bar these people from seeking a safe haven, by being concerned that what precious few jobs they had available would go to these new immigrants rather than to their own citizens.
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, was the real catalyst, though, for the birth of the Kindertransport movement. Mobs of Hitler's followers destroyed Jewish-owned properties, including homes and places of worship. Jews were killed, and many were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Jewish parents were faced with what was probably the hardest decision they would ever have to make in their lives: sending their children thousands of miles away to be taken in by strangers, not knowing when or if they would ever see them again.
