The holocaust and history of kinder transports

Overview

Many tried or attempted to flee the holocaust but many could not make it. Fleeing the holocaust was never easy. The Fleeing or escapes on the Kindertransport were started in 1939. Right when the Kindertransports began to pick up the kids before the Holocaust. This ended being stopped very early because of the Germans invading a City in Europe. Most of the Jews were scheduled to go to Holland to a little camp. The main objective of the Kindertransports was to bring all the kids, but no adults, under 16 down to Europe where Germany did not have full control. At the camps is where the kids would live like foster children and would wait for parents to adopt them. The hardest part out of the holocaust was the separation of families because the parents weren’t aloud to come on the Kindertransports. The Kindertransports would have to watch their mom and dads just vanish as they would be brought to a safer place in Europe. In conclusion the Holocaust was very hard to flee from and it was very hard to let go of the losses of families members and other people in the process.

The Transports

More than 10, 000 people made each trip. The main job of the transports was to take the kids 16 and under and bring them to a place that Germany did not have power. The main place that the Kindertransports would take the kids was Holland, England. Holland was where the Jews would be transported and from there they would become fosters. There was a very precise order that was followed. First, The children had to be identified. Then the Nazi’s had to gather the names of all of the children aboard the transports. After they had finally done that they would have to file all the paperwork. Finally after that the transports would leave right after the Nazis secured it. The Nazis had made them squeeze in but to escape the Holocaust was a miracle so they were very lucky. They would then go to Holland and get adopted by another family. That was what the Transports were like in the Holocaust era.

The Order

The Nazi’s were known for there brutal tortures and their history but one thing that everyone knows about them is the fact that they had extreme order. The Nazis had always had order. The Nazis were able to control 6 million Jews under control for about 5 years. You have to have order and organization to pull that off. They even organized them into different concentration camps and killed many people. The Nazis wanted to make it hard to leave the holocaust so that’s just what they did. They made it very hard to get out. You would either need a lot of money and a lot of paperwork to make an escape. For example, The Nazis did not like slouching they wanted arched backs at all times and did not believe in breaks. They also wanted their prisoners, when they were walking, to be marching. Everywhere they would go they would be marching. They also had incredible uniforms worn everyday. This show’s the Nazis Order.

Problems with the Transport

In mid 1938 is when the KinderTransports had began to pick up the children of the Holocaust and bring them to a safer and new home. There were a few problems with this though. One of the problems that had occurred is the Communication was very bad. It had taken a very long time to actually send a message because of the bad signal lines. It would take about 3 hours to send one message. This would be very bad because if they sent a message right when the Transport left, the transport would not get the message until about another 2 ½ hours until they had gotten the message. Another problem that they had ran into with the Transports is that they were not comfortable and tries to fit many people in the same space. These Transports were pretty big but they tried to get as many people as they could. Another problem that was faced was that the parents were not allowed to come on the transports so the kids would go to England and drop them off on Harwich or Holland and they would then be adopted. These were some of the major problems with the transports in mid 1938.

Bertha Engelhard

At the age of 15, Bertha Engelhard was a Jew who escaped from the Holocaust. Bertha was a very smart girl from an Orthodox Jewish family. Bertha grew up in Munich, soon to be transported, the city that Hitler Grew in power. Bertha was very worried about her KinderTransport. She didn’t want to leave Mom and Dad. This was a very hard thing for her to do because she really did love her family and didn’t want to be separated. Bertha was only allowed one suitcase and backpack on the transport. Bertha would have to say a hard goodbye to her parents her parents or any others were not allowed. The ride down was not as expected. She ended up in a foster school where she would be adopted. She was actually glad that she ended up in a school which was good news to her. Bertha Engelhard was a very lucky girl and ended up living a pretty good life. Her life was definitely not the one she expected but it was better that living in a concentration camp. In conclusion this shows the lives of those who took the Kindertransport.