The Kindertransport was the informal name of a rescue effort which brought thousands of refugee Jewish children to Great Britain from Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1940. The British government eased immigration restrictions for certain categories of Jewish refugees after the Nazis staged a violent attack on Jews in Germany during the November 1938 Kristallnacht or "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom. The British Commitee for the Jews of Germany, in cooperation with the British government to permit an unspecified number of children under the age of 17 to enter Great Britain from Germany and German-occupied territories (austria and the Czech lands). Private citizens or organizations had to guarantee to pay for each return for the guarantee, the British govenment agreed to permit travel visas. Parent or guardians could not accompany the children. A few infants tended by other children were invluded in the program. The first children's transport arrived in Harwich, Great Britain, on December 2, 1939, bringing about 200 children from a Jewish orphanage in Berlin. The last transport from Germany left in September 1939, just before World Was II begam. The last transport from the Netherlands left on May 14, 1940, the last day that country surrendered to GErmany, Most of the transports left by train from Berlin, Vienna, Prague, and other major cities in central Europe. The trains traveled to ports in Belgium and the Netherlands, from where the children sailed to Harwich. At least one of the early transports left from the port of Hamburg in Germany. Some of the children from Czechoslovakia were flown by plane directly to Britain, In all, the rescue operation brought about 9,000-10,000 children, some of them 7,500 of them Jewish, from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland to Britain. However, hundreds of children from the children's transports were trapped in Belgium and the Netherlands by the German invasion. After the children's transports arrived in Harwich, those children with sponsors went to London to meet their foster families. Those children without sponsors were housed in a summer camp in Dovercourt Bay and in other facilitios until individual families agreed to care for them or until hostels could be organized to care for larger groups of children. Many organizations and individuals participatted in the rescue operation. Inside Britiain, the movement for the Care of Children from Germany coordinated the rescue effort. Jews, Quakers, and Christians of many denominations worked together to bring refugee children to Britain. About half of the children lived with foster families. The others stayed in hostels and on farms throughout Britain.

Immediately after Adolf Hitler's ascent to power in Germany in 1933, his Nazi government launched a campaign of persecution against Jews. Withink months, tens of thousands of Jews left Germany. But soon emigration slowed considerably as visas became impossible  to obtain. The ferosity of pre-war persecution of Jews reached its pinnable with the pogrom of November 9 and 10, 1938, known as Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass"), when German and Austrian Nazis burned and destroyed 267 synagogues, killed 100 people, smashed 7,500 Jewish stores, and incarcerated nearly 30,000 in concentration camps. Even after this, very few countries were willing to take in Jewish refugees. For this, the world at large bears guilt, the U.S. being one of the worst offenders. Until the start of World Was II, when borders closed Jews were allowed to leave and Jews trapped troughout the Reich struggled to find a country that would let them in. n response to the event of November 9 and 10, the British Jewish Refugee Commitee appealed to members of Parliment and a debate was held in the House of Commons. It was agreed to admit to England an unspeciafied number of children up to age 17. A 50 pound sterling bond had to be posted for each child "to assure their ultimate resettlement." The children were to travel in sealed trains. The first transport left barely one month after Kristallnacht; the last left on September 1, 1939---just two days before Great Britain's entry into the war, which marked the end of the program. By that time, approximatly 10,000 children had made the trip. When the children arrived in England, some were taken in by foster families, some went to orphanages or group homes, and some worked on farms. They were distributed throughout Great Britain. Once there, they were at no more risk than the rest of the population. This was not inconsiderable since many towns were heavily bombed. Many of the children were well-treated, developing close bonds with their British hosts; however, others were mistreated or abused. A number of the older children joined the British or Australian armed forces as soom as they reached 18, and joined the fight against the Nazis. Most of the children never saw their parents again. Of the 10,000 Kindertransport children, it was believed that 20-25% eventually made their way to the U.S. or Canada. It is from these that the Kindertransport Association of North America draws its members.

Credits:

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005260

http://www.kindertransport.org/history.html