The Kindertransport: Contesting Memory, Paperback

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 archival sources, many of them newly discovered testimonial accounts and letters from Kinder to their families. This documentary evidence together with testimonial evidence allows compelling insights into the nature of interactions between children and their parents and caregivers and shows readers a more nuanced and complete picture of the Kindertransport.

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.