The Kindertransport Contesting Memory

Jennifer Craig-Norton sets out to challenge celebratory narratives of the Kindertransport that have dominated popular memory as well as literature on the subject. According to these accounts, the Kindertransport was a straightforward act of rescue and salvation, with little room for a deeper, more complex analysis. This volume reveals that in fact many children experienced difficulties with settlement: they were treated inconsistently by refugee agencies, their parents had complicated reasons for giving them up, and their caregivers had a variety of motives for taking them in. Against the grain of many other narratives, Craig-Norton emphasizes the use of newly discovered archival sources, which include the correspondence of refugee agencies, carers, Kinder and their parents and juxtaposes this material with testimonial accounts to show readers a more nuanced and complete picture of the Kindertransport. In an era in which the family separation of refugees has commanded considerable attention, this book is a timely exploration of the effects of family separation as it was experienced by child refugees in the age of fascism.

Jennifer Craig-Norton is an Honorary Fellow of the Parkes Institute for Jewish/non-Jewish Relations at the University of Southampton. She is editor (with Christhard Hoffman and Tony Kushner) of Migrant Britain: Histories and Historiographies: Essays in Honour of Colin Holmes.