Thousands of Jewish people who fled Nazi Germany as children will for the first time learn details of their journeys to freedom thanks to the discovery of historic documents.
Records which were used by border officials in Holland – to allow Jewish children to pass through the Netherlands on trains to the UK as part of the Kindertransport – have been discovered in archives in Israel. They list the names of almost all the 9,000 children who fled to the UK and Holland on the Kindertransport between December 1938 and August 1939.
It is believed that the records were created by the Dutch Jewish Children Committee to ensure safety of passage for children travelling from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria and Italy. They include the children’s names, home addresses, dates of birth, parents’ names, chaperones’ names, Kindertransport numbers and departure dates.
The documents were discovered in the archives at Yad Vashem by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) alumna Dr Amy Williams. Williams is now working with NTU Emeritus Professor Bill Niven to piece together the facts and make the lists available to the public.
Dr Amy Williams
“Since I started my research into the Kindertransport ten years ago, I was told repeatedly that the lists of children travelling to Britain and Holland did not exist,” said Dr Williams. “But I have found them. These lists will allow thousands of people to reconstruct their family units and understand more about their grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ lives before the horror ensued.
“Many of the Kindertransportees who are still alive today, who were so young that they cannot recall their journeys, will for the first time learn how they fled the war to start new lives in the UK and Holland.”
Dr Williams is also making available separate records she discovered in the archives of the Leo Baeck Institute New York for children who left Gdansk in Poland. These contain the names of several hundred children for the Kindertransport from Poland, though sadly some of them never made it onto their train.
Dr Williams has also just began working through the Austrian lists to the UK, France, Belgium, Australia, and other nations held at the new National Library of Israel.
Professor Niven said: “These documents are of huge historical significance and will help answer questions that many Jewish people have carried for their entire lives. It’s the first time that many people will know that they were definitely on a Kindertransport, where it travelled through, the names of those who accompanied them and other minor details that no one has ever seen before.
“It may be possible for people to trace where they lived, how many children were on their train, and the names of the children they sat next to. For some children it gives the address that they were going to.”
Surviving Kindertransportee Hanna Zack Miley, 92, who lives in Arizona, said: “I am still feeling the reverberations of seeing my details on the Kindertransport list. My first reaction was a feeling of authentication – this actually did happen, I was really there. I’m embracing more deeply both the losses and the deliverance, the saving of my life. Already the discovery of the lists has led to a Zoom meeting with two of Doris Aronowitz’s sons. Her name was next to mine on the list. I think it’s only the beginning.”
It is hoped that all the documents will be made available to the public through the Association of Jewish Refugees and World Jewish Relief to allow survivors and their families to learn about their past.
To check whether you or your ancestors are named on the lists email [email protected].
