Nazi Germany
In 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. His government passed a series of anti-semitic laws in an attempt to destroy Jewish social, political, cultural and economic life in Germany. Between 1933 and 1939, two thirds of Jews in employment lost their jobs. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws reduced Jews to second-class citizens. Marriage between Jews and non-Jews was forbidden. Those in mixed marriages and children with mixed parentage faced the same discrimination. For some couples, divorce was the only way to survive the anti-semitic restrictions. For other families emigration seemed to offer an escape, but most countries restricted the number of immigrants they would accept.
In March 1938, Austria was annexed to the German Reich in the Anschluss. German anti-semitic laws now applied to the 185 thousand Jews living there.
Kristallnacht - ‘Crystal Night’
The night of 9/10 November 1938 was a decisive turning point for many German and Austrian Jews. Jewish people, their homes and businesses were attacked in state-sponsored violence. This night became known as Kristallnacht, after the shards of broken glass that littered the streets the next day. Jewish emigration increased significantly as a result.
Kindertransports - ‘Children’s Transports’
Shortly after Kristallnacht leading members of the British Jewish community appealed to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to allow Jewish children into Britain. On 21 November 1938, the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, met with a large delegation from different organisations working together as the Movement for the Care of Children from Germany.
‘In nine months, nearly ten thousand children arrived in Britain’
It was agreed that Britain would admit children up to the age of seventeen but no limit on the number of children was officially announced. The Home Office relaxed normal entry requirements, but it was made clear that the children’s stay in Britain would be temporary. Each child had to have a £50 guarantee, (around £1,000 in today’s money) to pay for their re-emigration.
The first group of children arrived in December 1938. Evacuated from Germany and occupied Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland, most travelled by train through the Netherlands and then by ferry to Harwich or Southampton. A small number of children flew directly to Britain from Czechoslovakia.
The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 stopped the evacuation. In nine months, nearly ten thousand children had arrived in Britain.
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