We had to be brave Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport

It is common knowledge that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust of WWII. What might be less well known is that 10,000 Jewish children were spared that fate, being rescued by the Kindertransport Program which, in 1938 and 1939, took them by train and then boat from Germany to England for new lives with foster families. In her fascinating book about this vital project, Hopkinson shares the stories of many of these children but focuses primarily on three: Ruth Oppenheimer David, Leslie Baruch Brent, and Marianne Josephy Elsley, following the course of their lives from child- to adulthood. Hopkinson divides her book into four chronological sections dealing, respectively, with the rise of Hitler, the momentous Kristalnacht of 1938, the flight of the children, and their subsequent lives in England. Her book is a moving tribute to the organizers of the Kindertransport and to the courage of the children involved. Generously illustrated with black-and-white photographs, the book is extremely well researched and a valuable contribution to Holocaust literature.--Michael Cart Copyright 2019 Booklist

Gr 7 Up--This captivating narrative of assembled memoirs uses historical details of the Nazis' rise to power and its consequences for European Jews to convey the danger, the emotional cost, and the significance of the Kindertransport (Children's Transport). Hopkinson chronicles the rescue missions that saved young Jewish children from the Holocaust just before the start of World War II and describes the Nazis' systematic and relentless persecution of European Jews that made those rescues necessary. Background information regarding Hitler's rise to power is included, with special attention given to the Kristallnacht violence throughout Germany and the ways that the lives of Jewish families changed in the wake of these riots. Hopkinson's faithful commitment to preserving and broadcasting the voices of as many Kindertransport survivors as possible makes for a rich, dense, and sometimes confusingly detailed narrative. An index, time lines, and source notes will help to orient the reader in the individual stories and provide connections to the broader scope of history. VERDICT This moving account of an important and lesser-known aspect of 20th-century history is recommended for high school and junior high school nonfiction collections.--Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Blinn Junior College, Brenham, TX

A vital collection of vignettes from the Kindertransport, the World War II rescue effort that brought about 10,000 child refugees from Nazi-controlled countries into Britain.Years before the Nazis ramped up to genocide, the anti-Semitic laws of the Third Reich convinced some parents that their children were unsafe. Emigration, however, was quite difficult. Even for those prepared to move somewhere they didn't speak the language, it was shockingly difficult to get a visa. England and the United States had strict immigration quotas. Nevertheless, refugee advocates and the British Home Office hatched a plan to bring child refugees into Britain and settle them with foster families. (A similar attempt in the U.S. died in Congress.) The voices of myriad Kindertransport survivors are used to tell of this harrowing time, recalling in oral histories and published and unpublished memoirs their prewar lives, the journey, their foster families. Sidebars provide more resources about the people in each section; it's startlingly powerful to read a survivor's story and then go to a YouTube video or BBC recording featuring that same survivor, speaking as an adult or recorded as a child more than 80 years ago. Historical context, personal stories, and letters are seamlessly integrated in this history of frightened refugee children in a new land and their brave parents' making "the heart-wrenching decision" to send their children away with strangers to a foreign country.Well-crafted, accessible, and essential. (timeline, glossary, resources, index, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Marianne's friends started to treat her differently. "The security of my own small world gradually began to give way. I remember my sorrow when I was not invited to the usual round of birthday parties. I was the only Jewish girl in my form [grade level] and I found to my shame and discomfort that my former friends would no longer sit next to me... In the playground they were not allowed to talk to me or play with me. I walked around on my own." It was much the same for her parents. It had become dangerous for other town residents to be associated with Jewish people. "They were simply not allowed to [talk to us], and risked their jobs and the goodwill of the authorities if they ignored these instructions," said Marianne. "I remember one very good friend who deliberately came across the street to greet my mother and speak to her. My mother was quite shocked and afraid for her [friend's] safety." That woman's defiance was the exception. Most people seemed perfectly glad to turn their backs--or worse. "I remember one occasion, fairly early on, when there was a Sunday of harassment. Young men in brown uniforms were driven round the town in open lorries [trucks]. They stopped outside the houses where Jews were known to live and bawled obscene anti-Semitic song. I was very frightened and blocked up my ears. My mother, white as a sheet, said comfortingly, 'As long as they only sing, it will be all right.'" Marianne realized that the "innocent, calm, comfortable days were over--forever." Instead, "a worrying time started." Excerpted from We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport by Deborah Hopkinson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.