Kindertransport and Rotary - Anne Tait

Anne Tait talked  about  the Kindertransport and the involvement of Rotary.

On November 9^th and 10^th 1938, Nazi thugs smashed the windows of Jewish shops and homes, now known as ‘Kristallnacht ‘, the Night of Broken Glass. On December 2^nd 1938, 200 young people left Germany for the Essex port of Harwich. This was to be the preferred route for 10,000 children to follow, until September 2^nd 1939, when war was declared.

Rotarians, along with  many Church organisations, were left to find assistance for these children. Two notable Rotarians who helped were Alfred Roberts, whose daughter Margaret, later became Prime Minister. Another was Frederick Attenborough, father of the naturalist David. These Rotarians, along with many others, took these German children into their own homes.

The Worthing Herald gave another insight into Rotary help. On January 6^th, 1939, they decided to adopt two refugee children and an adult from Czechoslovakia, essentially providing financial support and foster homes. The Government would only grant visa waivers if there was financial support in place.

Though formal research on the role of Rotarians in the Kindertransport rescue has not been done, clues to the help can be found in newspaper archives and sometimes in the rare existing records of the refugee committees.

Anyone who has seen the film One Life, the story of Sir Nicholas Winton, a Rotarian, who rescued 669 mainly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia, will realise the significant impact each of these rescues meant to children involved.