Remembering Kindertransport: A legacy of bravery and loss
December 1 marks Kindertransport Day, commemorating the first train that carried Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Germany to safety in England in 1938.
Bernhard Morgenstern, Regina Morgenstern in her RAF uniform, Helena and her husband Bertl
This day honours the bravery of parents who made the agonizing choice to send their children away from danger and the resilience of those children who embarked on an uncertain journey to survival. The National Council of Jewish Women Australia (NCJWA) joins global communities in remembering these acts of courage and the enduring lessons they teach.
The Kindertransport, or “children’s transport,” was a rescue initiative launched before World War II to save Jewish children from Nazi persecution. Between December 1938 and September 1939, nearly 10,000 children were relocated from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland to the United Kingdom. Most of these children were separated from families who would later perish in the Holocaust, finding refuge in British foster homes, schools, and hostels. Many people have become aware of the Kindertransport from the recent film about Nicholas Winton called “One Life”.
“The emotions of those parents and their children are unimaginable,” NCJWA Federal President Lynda Ben-Menashe said. “On this day, NCJWA joins others in honouring their bravery and sacrifice.”
The establishment of Kindertransport Day emerged from a 2012 meeting of the Kindertransport Association, according to Janet Merkur, chairperson of the Australian Kindertransport Association and a former NCJWA national president. “During a conference in Los Angeles, I proposed creating a day for the community to rally around. December 1, the date of the first train’s departure in 1938, was chosen,” Merkur explained. “Since then, associations worldwide have celebrated Kindertransport Day to remember the Kinder and to spotlight children’s rights.”
Merkur’s personal connection to the Kindertransport runs deep. Her mother, Regina Morgenstern, was aboard the first Kindertransport train from Vienna on Dec. 11, 1938. Morgenstern later worked with British intelligence at Bletchley Park, helping decode German military communications during World War II. “She gave back to the country that saved her and made a significant contribution to the Allied war effort,” Merkur said.
Other family members survived the Holocaust thanks to the Kindertransport. Her cousin, Max Unger, left Germany on the first train from Frankfurt and later became a U.S. Air Force captain, ultimately losing his life in service. Another relative, Franzi Rupin, survived in hiding as a Catholic child in Holland after her foster family was murdered by the Nazis. Tragically, Merkur’s mother’s parents were killed in Poland, and two younger brothers who were too frightened to board the train perished during the war.
Merkur shared how her parents returned to their Polish village in 1995 and only then learned the grim details of the massacre that claimed her grandparents and hundreds of others. “The villagers led my parents to the mass grave where they were buried,” she said.
An estimated 17 Kinder eventually settled in Australia. A sizeable number of those settled in Maroubra in Sydney, where they attended the Maroubra Synagogue and kept in touch as a postwar community.
For Merkur, Kindertransport Day represents more than personal reflection. She has become a leading advocate for preserving the legacy of the Kindertransport in Australia, organizing events, delivering speeches, and sharing these stories to educate future generations. Although NCJWA has no formal events this year, the organization remains committed to marking the day in the future. “NCJWA also acknowledges all child victims of war, including those orphaned in myriad conflicts since World War II,” Ben-Menashe said.
“We note the terrible resonance of the Kindertransport story in the minds of Israelis whose children were abducted to Gaza on October 7, 2023, by the terrorists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad; in the minds of children who were orphaned on that day; and in the minds of all the Jewish people today as the current war continues.”
