Seton Hill UniversityTheatre Presents: November 11-19, 2005 Official SHU Theatre Production Study Guide 1 A Study Guide Compiled by: Darcy Wood Edited by: Dr. Terry Brino-Dean Prepared by the Seton Hill University Theatre Program in conjunction with the Production 2 Interview with Diane Samuels…………………………….. Enrichment Activates……………………………………….. Original Production……………………………………………….………….………24 14....………………….……………….4 2.18 12..……………….....…..6 5. History of the Kindertransport……………………. Personal Accounts of the Kindertransport…………..……. Play Synopsis…………………………………. Frequently Asked Questions about the Holocaust………………….11 10.……6 4.…….…..7 6. General Information………………………………………….….21 13. Note from the Playwright……………………………………...28 3 ... Timeline……………………………………….. Background to the Kindertransport………………………. Bibliography and Resources…………………………………….……..………9 8.…………10 9.13 11...1..5 3.…………….…………………. About the Author………………………………….………8 7. Introduction………………………………. For more information concerning this production and future Seton Hill University Theatre Program events and productions. Seton Hill University.edu.This study guide was prepared in conjunction with the Seton Hill University Theatre Program’s production of Diane Samuel’s Kindertransport in November of 2005 in Reeves Theatre. Terry Brino-Dean. Tickets are available through the SHU Box Office at 724-838-4241 or via e-mail at boxoffice@setonhill. have been scheduled for this production. please contact the SHU Box Office or Dr. Pennsylvania. at 724-8300300 or via e-mail brinodean@setonhill. which are discussions between the audience and the actors following a performance. For specific information about these sessions or to request a Talk Back for a specific performance. Greensburg.edu. Program Director. Please note that several “Talk Back” sessions. 4 . please contact the SHU Theatre Box Office. their story is based on the real life experiences of kindertransport survivors that the playwright researched while writing the play. or children of the transport. To that end. In particular. Memories of the Holocaust affect the lives of everyone even remotely connected to survivors. reunite around the world to celebrate their survival and to express gratitude to those who assisted in their escape from the unimaginable horrors that awaited many of their family members. Of course. The Enrichment Activities that are found towards the end can be used in conjunction with the viewing of the performance to spur classroom discussion.This study guide was compiled with the intention of bringing more resources and further critical analysis into the classrooms of our audiences. the guide is aimed at helping students gain a better understanding of the historical events surrounding the kindertransport and the Holocaust in general. Today. many kinder. while discussions and activities can enhance our understanding. this guide can be utilized to introduce the play to audience members and to initiate investigation into the issues that will be raised in the performance. We hope to see you at the theatre!! 5 . during. The background information found throughout this guide helps provide some context for the play and offers some insight into our production. there is no subsisted for the live experience of this significant play. Although the family of the play is fictional. For many kinder. and after World War II. Kindertransport tells one family’s story of separation and loss as it dramatizes their struggle for survival before. the bonds between them and the families who reached out to save them are being passed on from generation to generation. It can also be used to enrich discussions and activities following the experience of the play. according to its many favorable reviews. Canada. The playwright adapted the script into a radio play in 1995 and is currently working on a screenplay of the work. 1994.echotheatre. and tradition versus survival in the present. Source: http://www. Kindertransport has been performed throughout Great Britain. As her grown daughter questions her.html Kindertransport was first performed by the Soho Theatre Company at the Cockpit Theatre in London on April 13. religion and country to engage audiences with universal themes.” Indeed. Both productions were directed by Abigail Morris. Kindertransport transcends time. The characters struggle with the conflicts between individual needs and family ties. and the future that grows out of a traumatized past.htm 6 . she has become a quintessential Englishwoman who hides her origins from everyone. including her own daughter.Based on historical events. Austria. A stunning dramatic creation. we see her past and present collide. the true cost of survival. the play succeeds on both specific and universal levels. put on a train in 1938 as a seven-year old and carried away with other Jewish children from Nazi Germany in a little-known rescue operation called the “Kindertransport. Source: http://theatrewesternsprings.” More than four decades later. It premiered in the United States at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York on April 26.org/kindertransport. a shattering truth emerges about Eva's identity. and South Africa (where the play’s themes of memory and repression were felt to echo apartheid experiences). the United States. Kindertransport is the story of Eva Schlesinger. personal truth and historical lies. The author has described Kindertransport as “a play with universal themes set in a very specific context. It won the 1992 Verity Bargate Award and the 1993 Meyer Whitworth Award. The play has been honored a number of times. 1993. Germany. In Kindertransport. Sweden.com/Kindertransport. including Forever and Ever (1998). which was short-listed for the W.Diane Samuels was born in 1960 in Liverpool. Diane Samuels has devoted herself to writing. she had written Frankie’s Monster (1991 – also known as The Monster Garden) and The Life and Death of Bessie Smith (1989). and their two sons. aimed at both adult and children’s audiences. How to Beat a Giant (1995). and The Bonekeeper (1992). Two Together (1993). Since leaving the teaching profession. Hardly Cinderella (1997). They include Doctor Y (1997). Watch Out for Mister Stork (1994). and then continued her training as a drama teacher at Goldsmith’s College in London. One Hundred Million Footsteps (1997). This led to teaching for five years in secondary schools in the city of London. Smith Award for plays for children. Among her plays for adults are Watch Out for Mister Stork (1992) and Chalk Circle (1991).com/Kindertransport. Diane Samuels resides in London with her husband. She has also written a number of children’s theatre plays. and Frankie’s Monster (1992).htm 7 . Previous to these works. some adapted from her stage plays. Source: http://theatrewesternsprings. She studied history at the University of Cambridge. writer and journalist Simon Garfield. She has also penned a number of radio plays for the BBC.H. England. Swine (1996). Her father had been on the Kindertransport and I was struck at how her parent’s feelings had been passed down so fully to her. Page 6. at her father’s funeral. in her late twenties and born into a comfortable.DIANE SAMUELS Source: Samuels. The second was the experience of another friend who. Until that moment she had had no idea that her mother had been in a concentration camp. The first was a discussion with a close friend. Diane. What is the cost of survival? What future grows out of a traumatized past? Past and present are wound around each other throughout the play. The third was the ashamed admission by a fifty-five-year-old woman on a television documentary about the Kindertransport. 1995. They are not distinct but inextricably connected. but is a part of the inner life of the present.Three incidents led me to write Kindertransport. Kindertransport. secure home. 8 . I interviewed a number of the Kinder as part of my research. . ‘that the feeling she felt most strongly toward her dead parents was rage at their abandonment of her. Many of their actual experiences are woven into the fabric of the play. Although Eva/Evelyn: and her life are fictional. overheard her mother recalling her time in Auschwitz. New York: Penguin Group. most of what happens to her did happen to someone somewhere. The rerunning of what happened many years ago is not there to explain how things are now. They were all very open about their lives and feelings. who described her struggle to deal with the guilt of survival. no.000 children from their families just before World War II. the inheritance of trauma by the next generation who do not even directly have the traumatic experience. I'd want to stay with my parent. insightful and accurate about the nature of the trauma of premature parent/child separation. most interesting and moving of which is the Kindertransport poet Karen Gershon's oral history of the experience entitled We Came As Children. Fact and truth are different things. when I saw a TV documentary about how the children had come over to England from Nazi occupied Europe and what had happened to many of them.octagonbolton.Where did the idea come from for turning the historical Kindertransport rescue operation into a play? I was a young mother with a one year old son and pregnant with my second child in 1989. and I Came Alone by Bertha Leverton and Shmuel Lowensohn.co. This is the universal dilemma and contradiction. I read history as a student at university and like to gather my own primary source material so I also interviewed a number of Kinder about their experiences and feelings. survivor guilt. Source: http://www. There is also And The Policeman Smiled by Barry Turner. I have woven experience and events around each other to find a psychological truth which is.htm 9 . This is what the play explores. most children would say. the separating.uk/KindertransportAddedExtra. If you ask a child whether they'd want their parent to send them away to safety if they were both in danger and the child had the chance to escape. Kindertransport is based on the true story of the rescue and forced separation of 10. I'd rather die with my mum and / or dad than be sent away. I was struck at once by the ways in which relationships between parents and children were affected by sending them away to safety. I never intended to turn the Kindertransport event into a play. If you ask a parent whether they would send their child away from them to safety if they were in danger. I hope. How much research did you undertake into this period of history before you began writing? I read some very useful books. Why do you think the play is so popular and what gives it such universal appeal? The universal appeal of the play is that it deals with something every human being experiences either as a child or also as a parent: the letting go. What I wanted to make into a play was an exploration of the universal human experience of the separation of parent and child. of course I would. Kindertransport is performed regularly all over the world and has won a number of awards. most parents would say. the fiftieth anniversary of the Kindertransport. How much of the play is based on fact? Many of the events that occur in the play were experienced by someone somewhere. rescuing almost ten thousand unaccompanied children. had their driving licenses revoked. 10 . depriving Jews of their citizenship. and the Act for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. before the outbreak of war just nine months later. increasingly excluding Jews from public life. that the Movement for the Care of Children from Germany was formed. New York: Penguin Group. Later measures required that all Jewish passports were marked with the letter J. The most notorious of these were the Nuremberg Laws the Reich Citizenship Act. 1995. Thousands of Jewish businesses and institutions were destroyed and Jews were assaulted. The first organized attack on the Jews was in April 1933: a boycott of Jewish businesses was instigated and triggered much violence. Kindertransport. Source: Samuels. Diane. The killing of a German diplomat by a young Jew in Paris in November 1938 gave the Nazis the opportunity to engineer a huge increase in momentum. known as Kristallnacht. Jews were banned from places of public entertainment and cultural institutions. A series of laws ensued. and thirty thousand herded into concentration camps. killed. It was in response to this pogrom. Page 7. In addition. their property confiscated and were often forced to live together in communal Jewish houses. This later law prohibited marriage or extramarital relations between “Jews and nationals of German or allied blood” in order to ensure the survival of the German race.The Nazi gaining of power in the 1930s signaled a huge escalation in antiSemitic activity. and carried out humiliating random arrests. 1938. (The children were only allowed to take 10 Reichsmarks. and they agreed to post a 50-pound bond for each of the children (approximately $1. fearing competition for the few scarce jobs available in most depressed economies. and Czechoslovakia burned synagogues.) The children were forced to travel in sealed trains. “to assure their ultimate resettlement. launching a massive train and boat transport to bring the persecuted youth to safety. In late 1938. For most it was a final farewell. ravaged businesses. They hounded members of Parliament. All hoped it would be a brief separation. the British government announced their approval for the Kindertransport. Even before the worst events. Officials at the boarder tore apart luggage looking for valuables or just for fun. This determined coalition of Jewish.The Kindertransport rescued thousands of Jewish children from the atrocities of Hitler. Thus. In Great Britain. Quaker. and other Christian groups pleaded with the government to admit endangered children between the ages of 5 and 17. The children were forced to travel first to Holland by train so as to not use German ports. The last train left Germany just two days before the start of the war.” On November 21. As was their usual custom. 10. it became clear that the only remedy was escape. condoned muggings. The United States kept strict quotas in place limiting immigration. But to where? The world had already closed its borders.500 in today’s money). They enforced numerous new laws prohibiting Jews from practicing their professions or accessing public areas. the Nazis inflicted every petty indignity upon the kinder. a movement for the care of children—eventually known as the Refugee Children’s Movement—appealed to their government.000 children waved good-bye to their parents. 11 . in the nine months preceding the outbreak of World War II. Austria. Nazis throughout Germany. and group camps. older ones clinging to memories and hopes. Remarkably few of the displaced children were abused or exploited. and religion. schools. As war raged on the mainland. Even under the stress of war-time bombings and shortages.com/Kindertransport. younger ones leaving their roots and mother tongue behind. parents were not allowed to say goodbye at the train stations so as to avoid any public spectacle. hundreds of households welcomed the children into their fold. In Holland the trains were met by committees of volunteers who gave the children refreshments and helped them board the boats taking them to their new homes. Great Britain welcomed the children into their homes.In some cities. the children settled into their new land.htm 12 . culture. Source: http://theatrewesternsprings. Hearts closed the gaps left by language. but in December 1938 my mother promised me an even greater adventure. what is more. nor quite understand why. droskhas. cinema. she said the Queen would be waiting for me with a bunch of flowers on my arrival. a lady came up to me and pressed a shilling into my hand. I was to be sent to England and. I was then taken in by a kindly old lady in her guest house for convalescence. but the journey was uneventful until we crossed the Dutch border when there was singing and jubilation. So. That same night. Some of the older boys prayed-I was ten year old and did not know how to pray. At that time. there was little to hold me in Hamburg. halva. given two blankets and a wash bowl and shown into a freezing wooden hut with two beds. My mother kissed me and left in time to wave me goodbye from the platform as our train passed through the next station. swimming pool. theater and sweet shop had a notice JEWS UNWANTED. the solemnity of the occasion did not strike me. we were taken to Butlins Holiday Camp in Lowestoft. I ate my sandwiches and wondered whatever happened to the Queen. Hamburg-Altona. where we were all handed hard-boiled eggs and sandwiches. Uniformed men kept entering our compartment. I sat in a packed compartment of children of mixed ages. We were shown into a shed. arriving the following morning.To England… Traveling to visit my grandparents in Poland as an eight-year old I found very exciting. It was here. We were then shepherded aboard a boat at the Hook of Holland bound for Harwich. when our schooling was virtually ended. our synagogues destroyed and where –every shop. 13 . snow. that on my first walk. I was one of about twenty who caught scarlet fever within a week and spent some six weeks in Colchester Isolation Hospital. sledges. when a group of sad parents gathered at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof to see their children off. The ten of us were then taken to a disused Victorian workhouse called Barham House in Claydon. I was adopted as a boarder by Oswestry School in Shropshire. near Ipswich. Boys who one moment beat the life out of each other in the playground only minutes later appeared in their white surplices and starched white collars singing and looking like white angels in the school chapel. the bright. I left the school feeling very much like any other school leaver. The school provided humanity in microcosm-there was the bully. The culture gap between them and myself was vast. but particularly grateful for my good fortune. the dull. The only problem was I could not speak the language. The house had been converted to house some eight hundred boys and was just perfect for ten-year-old-no discipline. a small public school established in 1407. but I learned English quickly. but the gap was bridged and I emerged Head Boy six years later. - Sigi Faith 14 . attendance at meals was optional and it was much more fun building a raft and drifting in the nearby river. the weak. etc. who had managed to survive the war by escaping on the last boat out of Europe to Shanghai. In 1949 my good fortune was complete when I was reunited with my parents. The house was a selection center from which boys were sent to adopting parents. the opportunities given to me and the generosity and kindness shown by so many. the strong. My turn came at the end of September 1939. but the dormitory was absolute luxury after Barham House. Some of the tradition seemed to have changed little since. I was sure. I became used to the idea and looked for other mothers to love and care for me. She would ask what I wanted and it was always a teddy bear. I stayed in other people’s houses and many years later I learned I was a foster child. I last saw my mother hiding behind a telephone booth so that I would stop screaming and get on the train. I wore velvet embroidered dresses and had a white fur coat. Yes Marlene Dietrich the Whore Goddess was my mother. They tried to kiss you or when asked “How are you?” would give a long sad answer. I promised and tried very hard. an atheist and nothing at an. insisting that I would never see my mother again. and one night I woke up screaming. and at various times adopted their religious beliefs. When my father used to shout at my mother I used to cry and I would make him stop.To Scotland… We lived in Berlin and my mother was a beautiful lady with blond hair. I adopted several families. I have been very Orthodox. as they said I could be sick at will. My older brother says I stopped crying as soon as the train left the station. practice on their pianos and eat their chicken soup and chocolate pudding. She also didn’t let my mother near me when I ate. but I don’t remember that. Sometimes she let me go with her. During the war I didn’t like refugees. I saw her in lots of films and sometimes I 15 . was my mother. She played the piano and went to the beauty parlor once a week. They had accents and were very un-British. but my kinderfraulein used to hit me when I got dirty. When I was seven I went with my two brothers and lots of other children to Scotland. One day someone came to visit from a committee and said if I would call Mrs. The man in it looked a bit like my father and the woman. a Zionist.” I used to have frightening dreams. but couldn’t do it until I went to my next “foster home. The Blue Angel. but I would visit their homes. When I was about thirteen or fourteen I saw a movie. Leonard “Aunt Dora” instead of not calling her anything at all I could see my cousin. It was nice to be sick and to be in my mother’s bed. I hoped my mother would not like them. I didn’t live with these people. What was all the fuss about anyway? Just because my school which was attached to a synagogue had been burned down. They had numbers on their arms and my friends and I were told not to ask them any questions. Sometimes she escaped. Her official date of death is the last day of 16 . But my mother would rather have died than to give up her grand piano or to become a maid or a cook. They were all in their late teens or early twenties but looked much younger. did that mean we had to panic and leave everything behind? My father had written a song for us. She learned to make biscuits before she left Germany and got a job as a cook for a rich Jewish woman in Auckland.” and my mother firmly believed that.” We were told that the boys had looked like the human skeletons we had seen in some newsreels and I began to wonder if any of them had met my mother. Daddy. but often she was selected for instant extermination. and that’s how she got out of Europe. but at Oranienburg near Berlin. Many years later I learned that my mother was not at Auschwitz or at Buchenwald. Shortly after the war. She traveled all over the world and seemed to be having a good life. My father’s first job in Glasgow was as a night watchman. just because I was no longer allowed into the movies or my ice rink. but one day I could see my mother as Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again. We did learn that they had been in concentration camps and before coming to Scotland they had spent a few months in the Lake District of England “being fed.got her mixed up with Marilyn Monroe or Lotte Lenya. some without. I had an aunt Grete in New Zealand whose name sounds like fishbone in German. “Mummy. My father must have lost faith in his song. and the next day she would be the chosen courtesan of the camp director at Auschwitz. She was very beautiful and clever and she had to be to escape the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. I could not forgive him for coming alone. we’re soon coming back. a group of boys arrived in Scotland. It’s strange. Sometimes she would fall from favor and would have to undergo experimental operations-some with anesthesia. because five months after we left Berlin he also came to Glasgow. May she rest. land of orange groves. January 1983 17 . May 8. it’s time I forgave myself.the war in Europe. I’ve had trouble remembering the name Oranienburg and usually add a “g” and think of orange groves. I visited Israel. This date was given to many for whom there was no exact record. I associate orange groves with Israel. a few years ago. It’s time I forgave her. - Ruth Hirsch Originally published in Jewish Currents. Maybe she didn’t deserve all the good or bad things that happened to her. she must be tired. It’s time to bury my mother. 1945. I inscribed my mother’s name in the Yad Va’Shem. She must be old. 000 .000 deaths Mittelbau-Dora: unkwown but certainly tens of thousands Buchenwald: 50-60.000 deaths Chelmno: 150.000 deaths Stutthof: 65.900. 1933). Of course. Lichtenburg. this action was taken with the approval of Adolf Hitler. Most of the historians estimated that the total of the NON-Jewish victims would approach 500.000 deaths Dachau: 32.000 deaths Neuengamme: 56.000. there were several "wild camps" located in Germany and created by S.000 deaths Treblinka: 800 .000 deaths Mauthausen: 120.A. Some of these "wild camps" were: Papenburg.000 deaths Flossenburg: 73. probably many more.000 deaths o • • 18 . when he was minister of Prussia. Breslau.300.. These estimations include Jews and non-Jews: Extermination camps: Auschwitz: 2.000 deaths Gross-Rosen: 40. The opening of this concentration camp was not secret: an official announcement was published in several Munich newspapers in the following days. Before the creation of Dachau. Please note that this number include only the people who died in the camps and exclude all the victims of executions by the "einsatzgruppen" (extermination squad)..000 .000 deaths Majdanek: 360. o Concentration camps: Bergen-Belsen : 50.600.• Question: Who decided to create the concentration camps? A: The very first decision to open concentration camps for political opponents was made by Herman Goering in 1933. . Question: How many victims died in the concentration camps? The exact number of the victims in the concentration camps is unknown.000 deaths. Here are some estimations for the major camps.1 . officers. During his trial at Nuremberg.5 millions deaths Belzec: 500.000 deaths Sachsenhausen: 40-50. Herman Goering explained that he was proud of this decision Question: Which was the first concentration camp? The very first official concentration camp to be opened was Dachau (March 22th.000 deaths Natzweiler-Struthof: 12.2.000 deaths Ravensbruck: 92.000 deaths Sobibor: 250. 900 -.0% Bohemia/Moravia: 78.000 -.44.0% Belgium: 28.78.150 -.000 -.0.69.320 -.4% Norway: 762 -. therefore.8% Poland: 3. • Question: Which groups of people in Germany were considered enemies of the state by the Nazis and were.680 -.4% Yugoslavia: 63.0% Greece: 67. Jehovah's Witnesses.7% Netherlands: 100. persecuted? The following groups: Jews.44.81.8% Soviet Union: 1.85. homosexuals.22.27.• Question: How many Jews were murdered in each country and what percentage of the pre-war Jewish population did they constitute? o Austria: 50.000 -.000 -. Social Democrats.3% France: 77.2% • Question: What does the term "Final Solution" mean and what is its origin? The term "Final Solution" (Endlosung) refers to Germany's plan to murder all the Jews of Europe. and "anti-socials" (e.1% Germany: 141. other opposing politicians.47.000 -.g.71.500 -.44.86.25. hawkers).000 -. Gypsies.950 -.7% Estonia: 2.1% Bulgaria: 0 -. Any individual who was considered a threat to the Nazis was in danger of being persecuted 19 .0.000 -.500 -.0.000 -.9% Romania: 287.90.66.0% Italy: 7. habitual criminals.36.300 -.1% Lithuania: 143. and the mentally ill.100.6% Hungary: 569. beggars.4% Finland: 7 -.1% Slovakia: 71.000 -.1% Luxembourg: 1.17.000.55.0% Denmark: 60 -. vagrants.3% Latvia: 71. opponents of Nazism.000 -.79. obtaining information became more difficult.html 20 .) In the same period. Thus.860 Polish Jews immigrated to Palestine and 51. The first report which spoke of a plan for the mass murder of Jews was smuggled out of Poland by the Bund (a Jewish socialist political organization) and reached England in the spring of 1942. although the Nazis did not publicize the "Final Solution. They were publicized immediately thereafter. the Allies were aware of most of what the Germans had done to the Jews at a relatively early Question: How many Jews were able to escape from Europe prior to the Holocaust? It is difficult to arrive at an exact figure for the number of Jews who were able to escape from Europe prior to World War II. Austria. an emissary of the Polish underground. Eventually. The details of this report reached the Allies from Vatican sources as well as from informants in Switzerland and the Polish underground.000 European Jews (mostly of German origin) who fled their homelands. Hitler maintained that these areas were needed for the Aryan race to preserve itself and assure its dominance. During the years 1938-1939. Shanghai. Once the war began.278 German and Austrian Jews left their homes. • • Source: http://www.jewishgen. the American Government confirmed the reports to Jewish leaders in late November 1942. received approximately 20. since the available statistics are incomplete. While the details were neither complete nor wholly accurate. 355. 80. the only place in the world for which one did not need an entry visa. (Some immigrated to countries later overrun by the Nazis.747 European Jews arrived in Argentina.org/ForgottenCamps/General/FaqEng. the Lebensraum (living space) that Germany needed so badly for its farmers to have enough soil. approximately 35. Brazil. and Uruguay.• Question: Did the Allies and the people in the Free World know about the events going on in Europe? The various steps taken by the Nazis prior to the "Final Solution" were all taken publicly and were.000 emigrated from Bohemia and Moravia (Czechoslovakia). personally met with Franklin Roosevelt and British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden). and Czechoslovakia prior to World War II. an area to which they were entitled by right. reported in the press. nonetheless. details began to filter out to the West. therefore." less than one year after the systematic murder of the Jews was initiated. Question: What was Hitler's ultimate goal in launching World War II? Hitler's ultimate goal in launching World War II was the establishment of an Aryan empire from Germany to the Urals. were published regarding the fate of the Jews. From 19331939. He considered this area the natural territory of the German people. (Jan Karski. Foreign correspondents commented on all the major anti-Jewish actions taken by the Nazis in Germany. but reports. November 21 The British House of Commons approves the Kindertransport program.” for book burnings in cities and towns across Germany. The laws define Jews biologically—based on the religion of their grandparents rather than their own religious practices or identity. The Nazi government of Germany suspends constitutionally protected freedoms. July 6-15 Representatives from 32 countries meet at Evian. November 9-10 The German government instigates a nationwide series of anti-Jewish pogroms called “Kristallnacht . The German government enacts a new law excluding most “non-Aryans” from government employment. 1935 September 15 The German government passes the Nuremberg Laws.The occupation follows the Munich agreement. including freedom of speech. students and many of their professors enter libraries and bookstores in cities throughout Germany. All countries but one—the Dominican Republic—refuse to relax immigration standards. in which Great Britain and France cede the territory in exchange for Hitler’s promise of an end to territorial ambition. carting away books by Jewish authors. October 1 The German army enters the Sudetenland. and press. prompting the subsequent firing of Jewish civil servants. a largely German-speaking region of neighboring Czechoslovakia.” November 15 Jewish children are officially expelled from public schools. or non-Jews deemed “un-German. The Nazi Party declares a nationwide boycott of Jewishowned businesses in Germany. Jews begin fleeing to unoccupied portions of Czechoslovakia. March 13 Germany occupies Austria and proclaims the union (“Anschluss”) of the two countries. which deprive Jews of citizenship and forbid marriage between Jews and non-Jews. 1938 21 . including university professors and school teachers. assembly. On Hitler’s hundredth day in office. to discuss refugee policies.1933 January 30 February 28 April 1 April 7 May 10 Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. France. forcing the creation of segregated Jewish schools. December 10 The first Kindertransport departs from Vienna.1938 December 1 The first Kindertransport departs from Berlin. France. Australia. March 14 Germany initiates the partition of Czechoslovakia and occupies the western portion of the country. The German troops are accompanied by mobile killing units who murder Jews.S. and others in the conquered regions. May 17 The British government issues the White Paper of 1939. September 1 The last Kindertransport departs from Germany. September 3 Great Britain. Kindertransport organizers begin plans to rescue Jewish children from the city of Prague. placing severe limitations on Jewish immigration to Palestine. Communists.” June 22 Germany invades the Soviet Union. November 14 The German Luftwaffe (air force) begins the massive bombing of Great Britain known as the “Blitz. September 6 The HMT Dunera arrives in Sydney. May-June The British government orders the internment of refugees between the ages of 16 and 70 from enemy countries. Norway. Austria (now part of greater Germany). For most of the Jewish population of Europe. Senator Robert Wagner and Representative Edith Rogers introduce a bill to permit 20. Luxembourg.000 Jews will be allowed to immigrate to Palestine each year for the next five years. including Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria. and France. September 1 Germany invades Poland. prompting the United States to enter the war on the side of Great Britain.000 refugee children from Germany to enter the United States. and other countries declare war on Germany. May 14 The last Kindertransport departs the Netherlands as the Dutch army surrenders to German forces. April 9-June 26 The German army invades and defeats Denmark. The first Jewish prisoners to be systematically murdered by poison gas are killed at the Nazi death camp known as Chelmno. Germany. February 9 U. England. No more than 15. one of the most promising avenues of escape is effectively closed. the Netherlands. This bill will ultimately die in committee. Japanese airplanes bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Roma (“Gypsies”). July 10 The HMT Dunera sails from Liverpool. 1939 1940 1941 December 7 December 8 22 . Belgium. Germany surrenders to the Allies in the west. Germany surrenders to the Allies in the east. V-E (“Victory in Europe”) Day is proclaimed. Belzec. already under construction. British forces liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. February-July The Nazis begin operating the gas chambers of the Auschwitz. the chief apparatus by which millions of Jews will be killed over the next three years. and Treblinka death camps. 1945 23 . Sobibor.1942 January German SS and state officials convene the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the “Final Solution”—the German plan to systematically murder the Jews of Europe by deporting them to extermination camps. January 27 April 15 May 7 May 9 With the German army in retreat. Soviet troops liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp and its remaining prisoners. Under what circumstances might parents or guardians send a child away? The German government limited the children traveling on the Kindertransport to one suitcase and one backpack. and consider the effectiveness of the Nazis’ methods of exclusion. In what ways are attacks on specific groups and individuals attacks on the “basic values” of humanity? As a class. What possible reasons might the German government have had for imposing these limitations? Reflect on the meaning of home. Discuss the different choices that the parents made and the historical factors that contributed to the decisions. uncertain whether they would ever see them again.” For Jewish parents facing the uncertainties of the coming war. and other public places. parks. cameras. it was an extremely difficult choice that they had to make—whether or not to send their children to an unknown place and a chance of safety. write about the ways in which refugees in the past. rather than what they had done. as well as today. theaters. Discuss the importance of “human kindness” and respect for “human dignity. items of financial value. or another medium of creative expression. Think about a time when you departed from a place that was very important to you. No jewelry. These laws had tangible implications for the children: they not only lost access to vital necessities. a story. What parts of home can and cannot be taken with you? In a poem. musical instruments.com.” Give examples from current events in which people are denied some or all of the qualities you have listed. or money in excess of 10 Reichsmarks (less than $50 in today’s currency) were allowed.Many activities and discussion questions below are borrowed or adapted from www. What and who made it difficult to leave? 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 24 . Discuss what it means to be an outcast. the Nazi government passed laws banning Jewish children from public schools. have attempted to create home in a new place. make a list of those qualities you consider to be “basic values.intothearmsofstrangers. Give examples of other episodes in history or current events in which people were excluded because of who they were. containing only items for personal use. but they found themselves increasingly persecuted and isolated from their communities. 1) Between 1933 and 1938. but the bill faced strong resistance. the world community was faced with a dilemma: What was the appropriate response to the German government’s ruthless treatment of the Jewish population under its control? Discuss this question and establish criteria for deciding when a nation should come to the defense of a people persecuted by another government. to enter the United States. Address the following issues in your letter: Would it be easy or difficult for this child to fit into your home or community. Sociologist Helen Fein has suggested that people have a “universe of common obligation”—those within such groups as family. or friends have taught you throughout your life. and the legislation died in committee. and the American Legion. community. write about the ways in which refugees in the past. the opposition prevailed. exploiting the fear that this legislation would become the “thin part of the wedge”—the beginning of an uncontrolled wave of immigrants.S. Outside the “universe of common obligation” are those people toward whom we feel no responsibility. Senator Robert Wagner and Representative Edith Rogers. school. “Charity begins at home” was their slogan. introduced in February 1939 by U. the Daughters of the American Revolution. the opposition loudly voiced sudden concern for American children living in poverty. clothing. do you take for granted? How have they prepared you to face the world? How might you offer a tribute to one of these individuals? Reflect on the meaning of home. government. and why? What will he or she have to know to feel at home? Are there things such as food. education. As political maneuvering on all sides continued. language. or nation to whom we feel a sense of responsibility. or another medium of creative expression. Even in the face of reports from the American Friends Service Committee and a British child refugee agency indicating that the situation for these children was dire. Leaders from many aspects of American life. What qualities in those people do you appreciate. they would be depriving America’s children of needed assistance. as well as today. the Roosevelt Administration remained largely silent. What parts of home can and cannot be taken with you? In a poem. including religion. and labor. In 1938. How is this applicable to our understanding of why Great Britain received the Kindertransport and why the Wagner-Rogers Bill did not succeed. guardians. 8) Consider the lessons or values your parents. customs. Led by organizations such as the American Coalition of Patriotic Societies. a story. proposed to allow 20.000 refugee children from Germany. Write a letter introducing your own family to an unknown child from another culture who is coming to live with you for an extended stay. joined in supporting this legislation. and they made the case that if these refugee children were permitted to enter the country. have attempted to create home in a new place.The Wagner-Rogers Bill The Wagner-Rogers Bill. or music that are unique to your family or that reflect the place in which you live? What aspects of your home and family would likely be similar to those of your visitor’s? 9) 10) 25 . 7) Read the box to the left first. over and above the rigid quotas of the 1924 Immigration Act. hopefully this letter will reach you already in your new home. And she does this almost completely.” 13) Sara Bloomfield.. customs. Be obedient. Your writing is so natural. In the play. Reflect as a class about what is explicitly said and what is implicitly. Kindertransport. it is determined by choices made by people and their government.” Lorraine Allard’s father: “Your letter of yesterday was again so sweet and written with so much love that tears came running down your mommy’s face.” History is not inevitable. Be a very good little girl. He serves many purposes throughout the play. you have been constantly in our thoughts. it makes me imagine that you’re standing before me. described the story of the Kindertransport as “a tiny glimmer of hope during an enormous catastrophe.” Lorraine Allard’s mother: “I keep running to the mailbox. but not directly. I can only write letters full of longing. only there shouldn’t be so many spelling errors!” 12) Marietta Ryba’s mother: “As you can well imagine.” Sylva Avramovici’s mother: “I was very happy with your dear little letter.” Lilly Lampert’s mother: “If only I could see you just for a tiny moment. Do you understand Eva’s assimilation process as a purely individual phenomenon or does this aim at a social criticism as well? 26 14) 15) . Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. They accepted this name and designated the Jews as rats they had to catch and eliminate. She tries to become British and even converts to the Anglican Church. that it was so tiny is cause for concern. where you surely will enjoy your stay. Every day I thank God that you are in such good hands. But please show your gratefulness. or music did you notice? Could people distinguish you as a visitor? Why or why not? Choose students to read each excerpt of letters from parents to their children who had been sent away to Great Britain. What does the story of the Kindertransport convey about the importance of the choices made by individuals and nations currently affecting the lives of people in need The Nazis and Hitler were referred to as ratcatchers in Great Britain and the US. said. But as it is. What items such as food. language. That it happened is cause for hope.S. We still see your face before us in that window of the railway carriage. the Ratcatcher is an ambivalent and complex figure. Sylva Avramovici’s father: “My dearest little mouse. D. Every line from you overwhelms me.C.11) Write about a time when you traveled. the director of the U. clothing. Discuss the significance of this character and the impact that his name had on the Jewish People? It seems to be necessary that Eva denies her German-Jewish roots just in order to survive. edu/%7Eholocst/ Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Website: www. please call (202) 488-0400 or visit www. (KTA) www. Judy. photographs..” http://www. which includes helpful guidelines. 27 .setonhill. D. “Kindertransport”.org/kindertransport.org/ForgottenCamps/General/FaqEng. http://www. has created a resource guide for educators entitled Teaching about the Holocaust : A Resource Book for Educators. 1995. and other materials. film footage. historical background.html 5. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW Washington. “Frequent Asked Questions. Supplementary materials on the making of the film are also available. “Kindertransport”. including documents. D. Diane. OTHER RESOURCES Seton Hill University’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE) http://maura.org The Kindertransport Association is a North American organization of Kindertransport survivors and subsequent generations.1. “Kindertransport”. and sponsors regional informational and social gatherings.co.echotheatre. To order or for further information on the Museum and its programs. New York: Penguin Group. Inc. 20024 The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. http://theatrewesternsprings.html 4. Tracey.C. Osborn. bibliographies. http://www. Kindertransport Association.The KTA publishes a quarterly journal entitled The Kinder Link.org.htm 2.intothearmsofstrangers. and excerpts from interviews. videographies.com/Kindertransport. Divitia.ushmm.jewishgen. Kindertransport.C. Its speakers’ bureau provides materials and speakers for public forums.com The website for the film provides further resources.htm 3.octagonbolton.uk/Kindertransport. historical information. Samuels.kindertransport. correspondence.