Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

Although nearly 1.5 million children tragically died in the Holocaust, thousands were rescued through various humane missions such as the short-lived Kindertransport, in which some 10,000 children (primarily Jewish) from German-held lands were sent to foster homes and hostels in Great Britain between December, 1938 and the outbreak of war the following year. Narrated by Dame Judi Dench, filmmaker Mark Jonathan Harris's Oscar winner for Best Documentary combines interviews with administrators and a handful of those seniors who, as young children, were transported "into the arms of strangers," together with archival footage and stills, to create a compelling portrait of shattered families, remarkable charity, cherished hopes for reunion, and--as postcards and letters from parents stopped coming--the slow acceptance of unimaginable loss. The stories are a bittersweet mixture: Lore Segal stayed with a total of eight different families, and while she admits that "none of them loved me [and] I didn't love them," she is still struck by the extraordinary act of opening one's home to a foreign child. Some were used as extra household help, others became integral parts of the family, and a very, very few were against all odds reunited with their birth parents. In one of the most poignant moments in the film, Kurt Fuchel recalls returning to his real parents (veritable strangers) after nearly a decade of separation--smiling through quivering lips, eyes moist with tears, Fuchel's conflicting emotions are perfectly captured by his tortured question: "two sets of parents; what more could one ask for?" An excellent addition to the pantheon of powerful Holocaust-related documentaries, such as Harris's earlier The Long Way Home (VL-1/98), James Moll's The Last Days (VL-7/99), and Survivors of the Holocaust (VL-3/96), this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)