White Theatre - 1 - Kindertransport Resource Guide Kindertransport About the Show March 26 & 31, April 2 at 7:30 p.m. March 27 & April 3 at 2 p.m. March 30 at 9 a.m. Rated PG By Diane Samuels Directed by Darren Sextro Presented by Special Arrangement with Susan Schulman, Literary Agency, LLC This production partially underwritten by the Center Season Patrons Fund Resource Guide Compiled by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education Special thanks to the staff of the Midwest Center for and Hannah Michelson Holocaust Education and to Esther Bergh. Edited by Tracie Holley Art Direction by Hannah Michelson Credits & Sources Cast Photos courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Helga Elizabeth A. Hillman Eva Margaret Veglahn Maps of Greater Germany, September 1939 and Europe, 1939 Evelyn Ellie DeShon courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Faith Jessica Franz Ratcatcher Justin Speer The views or opinions expressed in this guide, and the context Lil Pam Haskin in which the images are used, do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of, nor imply approval or endorsement by, the Production Staff United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Director Darren Sextro Other sources: Shared Experience Education Pack by Gillian Asst. Director Christina Schafer King; Hall & Childs Education Pack Production Stage Mgr Catherine Lewis Assistant Stage Mgr Kim Kershner Scenic Designer Shane Rowse Lighting/Sound Design Jayson Chandley Sound FX Design Roni Lancaster Costume Design Julia Ras Properties Design Bill Christie White Theatre Tickets: (913) 327.8054 theJKC.org/boxoffice Definitions The Holocaust The state-sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Jews were the primary victims – six million were murdered. Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), people with mental and physical disabilities, and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons. Millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and political dissidents, also suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi Germany. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) Kindertransport Between December 1938 and May 1940 nearly 10,000 refugee children, 7,500 of whom were Jewish, were relocated from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland to Great Britain. This effort was called the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport represented not only the generosity of the British government and people, but also a significant example of Jewish pro-activity in their own rescue and great family sacrifice. Jewish parents, with the foresight to see the potential danger of Nazi policy even before the outbreak of World War II, made the difficult decision to separate from their children in the hopes that they would be safer with strangers in a foreign country. The first transport to leave Germany was composed of orphans from Berlin and landed in Hartwich, England on December 2, 1938. Later transports, which were organized by the Jewish community, gave priority to children whose emigration was urgent because they or their parents were in concentration camps or their families were no longer able to support them. Priority was also given to homeless children and orphans. About half of the children who came to Britain were placed with foster families. The children’s experiences varied - many found genuine support and affection with their foster families and integrated into the family. Others were very unhappy. Life in Great Britain represented a significant cultural shift from central Europe both in social practice and language. There was often very little support for the practice of religious or cultural Judaism, though the children were otherwise well-treated with access to education and basic necessities. The children who were not placed with foster families, generally the older children, were more likely to live in hostels or on farms. In 1940, as the war reached Britain, approximately 1,000 of these older children from the Kindertransport were imprisoned as enemy aliens. Having left home with few belongings and financial resources, but with a strong hope of reunification, the children maintained contact with their parents. Initially, letters still moved between countries and families wrote of hopes and plans for their future together. The beginning of the war in 1939 made communication much more sporadic and difficult when the German government restricted the delivery of mail to and from Jews. By 1942, almost no communication was possible as deportations began to death camps in the East. At the conclusion of the war in 1945, the Kinder waited to be reunited with their parents. For most, that reunion never happened. For a lucky minority, a parent or other family member who had survived the Holocaust came to find them. Reunions were not always happy as children had grown and changed and parents were also changed by their experiences. Many Kinder, usually those with no living relatives, made the decision to become citizens of Great Britain, while others emigrated to Israel and the United States. - 3 - Kindertransport Resource Guide The Third Reich 1938 & 1939 1938 January German Jews must turn in their passports. Only those who are about to leave Germany will be issued new passports. January 5 The government revokes all legal name changes granted to German Jews before January 30, 1933. March 13 Austria is made a part of Germany in an event known as the Anschluss. All laws against German Jews are immediately applied to Austrian Jews. March 29 Jewish social welfare, relief, and charity organizations and institutions lose their tax-exempt status. April 26 The Decree for the Registration of Jewish Property • Requires Jews to value and register all property with the authorities, including all jewelry, artwork, furs, and luxury items worth more than 5000 Marks. • Forbids the sale or lease of property so registered. May All Romanian Jews living in Germany are expelled. May 28 Reinhard Heydrich orders male Soviet Jews living in Germany to be imprisoned in concentration camps until they can prove they will be leaving the country. June 14 Jewish businesses must be registered. A business is considered “Jewish” if even one of the following is the case: • The owner is Jewish • A partner is Jewish • A member of the board of directors (as of January 1, 1938) is Jewish • Jews own more than one-fourth of the shares or have more than one-half of the votes • A branch of a Jewish business is considered Jewish if the manager is a Jew. June 14 The Fourth Supplementary Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law (one of the Nuremberg Laws) forbids Jewish doctors to treat non-Jewish patients after September 30. July 6 A law provides that marriages between Jews and non-Jews may be annulled. July 6 – 16 Representatives from 32 countries meet at Evian, France, to discuss what to do about Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria. Most refuse to allow any more Jewish immigration, even though the Nazis are trying to force them out. July 16 A law is passed listing all of the commercial service businesses which Jews must now close down without compensation for any financial losses. Among them are: • guard services • brokerage agencies • marriage agencies catering to non-Jews • travelling salesmen • real estate agencies • credit information bureaus • visitor’s guides July 23 Jews must apply to the police for special identification cards by December 31. Every Jew over the age of 15 must carry such a card at all times. July 25 Jewish doctors lose their licenses and must close their practices, without compensation for financial losses. July 25 The first eviction law against German Jews lets non-Jewish landlords cancel leases on Jewish doctors’ apartments. August 1 Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi official in the SS, establishes the Office of Jewish Emigration to speed up the process of forcing the Jews to leave. August 17 German Jews are required to change their names by January 1939. • Men must add the middle name Israel and women must add the middle name Sarah. • Parents of newly born Jewish children are limited to picking names from an “approved list” compiled by the Ministry of the Interior. All names on the list reflect the lowest of antisemitic stereotypes. Kindertransport Resource Guide - 4 - • All name changes and new names must be recorded on birth and marriage certificates by the localOrder Police (an organization similar to our National Guard). • All name changes and new names must appear on all personal documents, court records, and official correspondence. Sept. 16 A Berlin court rules that the laws protecting non-Jews who rent homes or apartments do not apply to Jews. Sept. 27 Jewish lawyers must close their practices by November 30 in the German territories and by December 31 in Austria. They would not be compensated for financial losses. Sept. 29 England and France sign the Munich Agreement, giving Germany the Sudetenland region in Czechoslovakia. October 5 German authorities, honoring a request from Swiss authorities, stamp a large red letter J on the passports belonging to Jews, in order to keep them from trying to smuggle themselves into Switzerland. October 10 The German army occupies the Sudetenland. • All laws against German Jews are immediately applied to the Sudeten Jews. • The Germans expel several thousand Sudeten Jews to Czechoslovakia, from where they are sent to Hungary, then back to Germany, and then back again to Czechoslovakia. At one point, they are placed on a riverboat on the Danube and kept from anchoring on any river bank. Finally, in freezing weather, they are forced into tent camps in a bleak no-man’s area between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Oct 27-28 More than 54,000 Jews who are Polish citizens living in Germany are expelled from the country and forcibly transported to the Polish border.