In November 1938, following the night of brutal attacks on Jewish homes across Germany known as Kristallnacht (night of broken glass), British refugee organisations persuaded the British government to permit Jewish children under 17 to come temporarily to Britain. Each child's keep, education, and eventual emigration had to be paid for by private individuals. In return, the government agreed to permit refugee children to enter the country on travel visas. Parents were not allowed to accompany their children.
Between December 1938 and September 1939, when war began, the kindertransport (child transport) trains brought around 10,000 children to Britain. Many would never see their parents again.
Ursula Adler, Anne Berkovitz, Harry Bibring and Helga Carden came to Britain on the kindertransport. In these video clips, recorded by the 'Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation', they describe their experiences as Jewish children in Nazi Germany and Austria, and the emotions they felt when leaving their parents in order to find safety in Britain.
