Ten Thousand Children

by Anne L. Fox, Eva Abraham-Podietz

How can we educate young children about the Holocaust without scaring them? With simple stories told from the perspective of children who escaped. This collection of true first-person accounts brings to life the rescue of ten thousand children from Nazi-occupied territories to England in the late 1930's. Between December 1938 and September 1939, 10,000 children were rescued from Nazi-occupied countries and safely transported to England. This rescue mission was called the Kindertransport, and the remarkable experiences of these children are dramatically brought to life in this collection of true first-person accounts. The children's stories are divided among the book's seven chronological

Genres: Holocaust, History, Nonfiction, World War II, Germany

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Ruth Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was cowritten by my mother in law Eva Abraham-Podietz. A very touching memories of children victimized by the very dark period in our history perpetrated by the nazism. Thank God she had a happy end but with many scars.

[Adrienne]

I recently read the book "Ten Thousand Children" by Anne L. Fox. This book is filled with tragic stories told by children who were on the Kindertransport during the Holocaust. The Kindertransport is an organization which was started to keep children safe while their parents were suffering in The Holocaust. These children had to be approved to be able to go to England and live with an english family. Some of the families treated their new relatives like slaves, but other families were explained to be very kind to the new children. The perspective of the narrator was obviously against Hitler and everything he made them and their family go through. These children were striped of their childhood so that they would go onto days long train rides to leave their homes and go live with a new family they have never met before. My perspective as I was reading all of this was, what these children had to go through at such a young age is absolutely disgusting. I was reassured as I learned that they would be in a safe country. Before reading this book I had no idea what The Kindertransport was. I thought that all of these children had to go suffer in The Holocaust. It makes me happy that England was allies with all of these countries that were in danger. The people of England opened their homes to these strangers. I would definitely recommend this book because it opens up your mind to a whole new world. I find it amazing that these survivors were strong enough to come together and write a book on what was probably the most tragic years of their lives.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, gained power in Germany, the persecution of the Jews accelerated. When accounts about the atrocities began to circulate to other countries, a group of British citizens asked their government to help the children of Jewish families come to England. It was evident to many that war was imminent and that immediate steps needed to be taken to insure the safety of these innocent children. And so began what was termed the Kindertransport. Ten thousand children were evacuated from Germany, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Two thirds of them would never see their parents again. The authors of this moving book were themselves evacuees in the Kindertransport. Their poignant stories as well as the firsthand accounts of many other evacuees are detailed in this book. Each child's story is told along with an update of what happened to them after the war. Many photos are also included. Middle and high school students as well as adults would find this book hard to put down.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Jews in England were alarmed to hear of the burning of the synagogues on Kristallnacht and the destruction of Jewish property by the Nazi."
Several Jewish organizations ( who promised to raise the necessary money & to seek shelter for the children) "together with church groups and the Quakers, begged the British government to admit Jewish children... England's government granted permission to admit children without passports..."
The first 'Kindertransport' left Germany on December 1, 1938. Ten Thousand children were sent to England. These children were grateful to England for saving them from the fate that 1.5 million children suffered in the holocaust.

This is an easy read, it took a a couple of hours. It was just another facet of how people's lives were impacted by the German's during the war.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a YA type book, with all kinds of terms explained as they might need to be for teenagers. The basic information is rather well known, as is the fact that some of the children found good foster families, while others were treated like servants. It is interesting to note that after the six years or so that chlldren had been separated from their parents, both they and the parents changed--if the parents hadn't been killed in the Holocaust--so that it was hard for them to readjust. Most of these stories are of the positive type. It is only 128 pages. The shadings on some of the pages make it harder to read.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, short book with personal stories about the Kinder - children who escaped Nazi Germany right before war broke out and were taken in by the people of England. They had to leave family behind and 2/3 of them were orphaned by the wars end. The book is aimed at children (including having difficult words defined in the margins), but it is still interesting to adults. Besides leaving family behind, many of the Kinder also had to endure the Blitz once in England and were relocated multiple times during the war.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. True stories of the children who escaped to England on the Kindertransport combines short stories of what their life was like in Germany prior to leaving with updates of how their lives turned out. Sidebars provide a glossary, and the use of photos and actual documents makes this both a riveting story and a textbook of the Holocaust told from the children's perspective. Just right for a 6th-8th grade unit.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books tells several stories of children who escaped the Holocaust by going to England on the Kindertransport. Very well written and touching. A must read for kids and adults.