Journey with us to World War II to discover the lives - and heartbreak - of the Kindertransport.  Full script included below.

----more----

Today we will be looking at the Girls who travelled with the Kindertransport of WWII. 

 So firstly what was the Kindertransport? Kindertransport means “Children’s transport” in German and it was the mass movement of young children, mainly Jewish, out of Germany and occupied or threatened lands to safer countries, primarily Great Britain. After “Kristallnacht” or “night of the broken glass” in 1938, many people and some governments realized that the situation in Germany had become dangerous for Jewish people. With some persuasion the British government, who at the time governed the safest place in Europe, decided to let a small amount of unaccompanied minors, to be fostered in to British families. Through this and mass support from Quaker groups and the Refugee Children Movement group, nearly 10,000 children were rehoused in Britain. But how did it feel for these girls of diverse backgrounds, to leave their life behind? For many only the thing they had in common was being Jewish. Let's take a look shall we?

First things first, what actually was happening in Germany to make parents want or need to willingly give their children to people not knowing whether or not they would ever see them again? Many of these girls either lived in Germany, or a bordering country like Czechoslovakia or Austria, and this was happening just before the Second World War, when Hitler and the Nazi party were in power in Germany. From 1934 onwards, Hitler put in place more and more anti-semitic laws which limited Jewish people's lives drastically. This culminated in the “Kristallnacht” or “night of the broken glass” in Germany and Austria on 9-10th November 1938. Civilians turned on the Jewish community, and Police forces turned a blind eye. Mass looting, arson, theft, destruction and murder were committed and it displayed clearly to the Jewish communities that they were not safe anymore. Many parents therefore wanted to get out of these areas, but due to harsh restrictions on what Jews could and could not do, they were left with little breathing space.

Next, how did these children get a place on these trains and then boats out of the danger zone?

By a lot of hard work from their parents. For most Jewish parents the idea of getting their child out of the threatened zones was a “Tremendous drive” and something that nearly everyone would have wanted, to give their child a better chance of survival. However, it was very difficult to do so, both logistically and emotionally. As Dame Stephanie Shirley recounts, it was “made so difficult” that her mother had to put her and her sister in a children's home temporarily. As the parent would have to be in one place in Vienna getting one form approved, and shortly after be somewhere else on the other side of Vienna getting another form accounted for, which she simply couldn’t have done with her children in toe.

Each child needed an individual donor. A donor was a British person who would put £50 upfront to pay for the child's later re-emigration and was a way of trying to making sure that these children would not remain in Britain for the rest of their lives, although this was often not the case. Many stayed in Britain or moved to another country, but almost none went ‘home’. These girls were often advertised in the British paper, not just for fostering, but for this payment. Once a foster family, a loan and all the papers were in order all the parents had to was actually get their child on the train. While for a good cause, it does seem to be a bit unseemly to be advertising children in this way.

Once all the money and paperwork were in order, the next step was preparing the children to leave, which would have happened quite quickly.

So what would you pack? Well the guideline were strict as can be seen in this statement released on December 10, 1938. "We remind again that the luggage must contain nothing but the children's personal items. Any forbidden additions will result in the child not being taken along." The child also had to be a able to carry the bag, with the child in question ranging from a five year to a sixteen year old, so did this size of the bag. Most parents packed practical items clothes, hair brushes or other items which would help look after their child. But these young girls most prized possession were often there doll or favourite toy, which was for many a great source of comfort, as Dame Shirley knew all but to well. Whilst on the Kindertransport she lost her doll on the train over to England. This was what caused her the most amount of stress, despite having left her family, it was not having her doll to hold which she remembers stressing over. Luckily however the doll turned up by the time they got to England!

So how did it feel to wave goodbye to their families? Not knowing if they would see each other again would have been difficult for those old enough to understand, but for the younger ones, all they knew was that they were leaving their mummy and daddy.

For Leisl, her whole family came to say goodbye to her, at 12 she was the only one who was young enough to go on the train. She remembers her dad's parting words to her “see you soon, be my brave little girl”. For Leisl she could at least make sense of what was happening. 

For younger girls like Stephanie, memories of leaving are much more blurred but nonetheless traumatic. What she does remember however, is a young boy named Peter who kept understandably being sick. In her memory the train stopped every time he wanted to be sick, her older sister, and her adult minds of course contradicts this, as how could a whole train stop for one young boys illness? She also remembered sleeping in the luggage rack, which she now thinks seems quite unlikely! Some children even became hysterical as this was the first time they had been away from their parents, with no guarantee they would see them again. There were only two adults per train to calm these hundreds of distraught children, so not an ideal situation at all. There were also some young girls who had agreed to carry babies for families aboard the Kindertransport a temporary nanny, on the understanding that they would return to their country, to almost certainly meet their end. However, a lot of babies and young toddlers were looked after by their older siblings or cousins. Here many girls undertook the role of a parent for their infant siblings. Firstly on the train by comforting the baby even if they were frightened themselves, but also later when they were settling into their new homes. Often they were their only connection to the younger childs own old home left. 

For their own safety, the doors remained shut on all trains as the crossed through Europe. However, it was very difficult because they had no food until they got to Holland where finally some ladies came on board offering them something to eat.

The next step in the journey was on the big ferry ride from the Hook of Holland to Harwick in England. For some girls, like Stephanie, this was the first time they had ever seen the sea let alone been on a boat. The murky water and salty smell would of been frightening things! One girl, Ruth, was so distraught by this point, she didn’t want to go any further, however, a boisterous teenage managed to scoop her up onto his back and distract her enough to get her onto the boat. By this point, many of the children were too tired and confused to continue on with any hysterics, the great unknown of their position stared at them like the dark sea. After their time on the boat, they took a short train ride typically to London.

Many children arrived at Liverpool Street Station in London and it was here many met their foster parents. However some met their future families at a receiving centre, which was a local hall where it was easier to assign children to their correct foster parents then at the station. All of the children had tags with their names and numbers on, and hopefully still had their suitcases with them. The adults in charge would then pair up the children with their pre assigned foster parents. 

For some, they were matches made in heaven. Stephanie Shirley referred to her foster parents as “Auntie” and “Uncle”, and she had a great relationship with her uncle, and a stable one with her Auntie. For others, the language barrier was an an ongoing boundary. For Ruth, she was scared at the receiving centre, and due to the language barrier she thought she was being handed over to Hitler. She did not believe she was safe until she was able to see her cousin who had already settled in the UK.

For some, like Ruth, she could not forget the trauma of leaving her parents. During the Blitz when children were evacuated out of London, Ruth was taken away again from her foster family, and she moved around several different families before moving to America. These experiences were severely traumatizing and she was haunted in the form of mental breakdowns throughout her life.

Some girls parents did survive the war and the Holocaust. Whilst Leizls father died in Auschwitz, her mother was discovered alive in Czechoslovakia by Leizl’s Czech friend. Her mother then came over to live with her, as the rest of the family had been killed. Her mother would often say “You are the only one left to make my life worthwhile”. Which Leizl rarely felt she did. But the magnitude of loss in her home country is truly astounding, out 60,000 young Jews in her hometown, she was the only one under 19 who survived.

Others girls delved into work, like Dame Stephanie Shirley, who worked incredibly hard to earn a maths degree by attending six years of night school, and went onto be a leading business women in software. Later she became a philanthropist, helping support causes to do with asperger's syndrome. She speaks of her disjointed childhood as teaching her that “Tomorrow is nothing like today”, so you must work positively onwards. 

And whilst I think Dame Stephanie has a point, you could also say that “Today is frequently like yesterday”. In today’s world 19.5 million people have been displaced due a variety of reasons which are frequently underlined by war. Many of these people are children fleeing for their lives with no other choice but to become refugees purely for being in the wrong country at the wrong time. Sound familiar?

Much like in the Second World war, the media and popular opinion have gotten the culprits and the victims muddled up. It was the Nazis and not the Germans who were attacking the rest of the world. Like now it is the “So called Islamic state” who are violently attacking the world, not Muslims. In fact more Muslims have been killed by a far greater extent than any other group of people. 

So where is our modern day Kindertransport?

Maybe we are looking at this through rose tinted glasses. After the Kindertransport, the refugee children were not always warmly accepted by their foster families or the wider society. Older male refugees were often deported, either to work in the army or sent to Australia as prisoners. But perhaps this time we could get it right.

So what can we do? Well the British government have pledged to take on 3,000 unaccompanied children. But could Britain house more? And what about other countries? The cost of a train then  would be no more than a flight now. Other developed and wealthy countries could also house these children. There are negative aspects to rehousing young children and taking them from their parents, but surely giving them an education and a chance at life is worth it? There may be many other issues at play as well. Politics and religion are still at the forefront of why children need to leave their homelands to begin with. Germany has opened its doors to 1 million refugees and has become a desirable country for those escaping oppressive and dangerous regimes.

Whilst the idea of brown paper tags and trains across europe may seem like an old timey idea, maybe it is what we need right now to save a generation of people. Or have we traded our sense of humanity for suspicions and fear?

We have looked at three very different girls go through an extraordinary circumstance, but there were more girls on the train, and many more who sadly were not. Some girls, now women, are still dealing with the past today. Like Ruth, who despite a scarring experience after the kindertransport and mental health issues as a result, still says “Life is hard but I’m going to make it”, and this shows us exactly what she is made of. Or Leizls, how whilst still having her mother with her after the war, found it hard to live up to her expectation, but nonetheless spends her retirement telling school children of her experience on the kindertransport as ”kids prefer to have a human tell them their experience then read about it in a book”. Or Stephanie, who remembers frequently being told told how lucky she was to of be a refugee in Britain. And whilst this made her uncomfortable, it also made her think “Her life had to be worth saving” which made her live each day as if was her last and make a positive change in the world around her, which is safe to say she and these other girls did, because they had a chance. Like Margit Goodman, a kindertransport girl and a lobbyist for refugee children being welcomed to the UK, said “I wouldn’t be here now. They saved our lives, didn’t they?”

Tiffany rounds up the latest girl-related news from around the globe.

 Discussions on the United State of Women, Education Cannot Wait fund, a

new female artist at the Met, ISIS's ongoing genocide, FGM, child

marriage, and several amazing protests in support of women and girls.

 See below for full show notes.

----more----

First

up this month, the United States held its first-ever United State of

Women summit, which aimed to rally together advocates of gender equality

and highlight what the country has achieved, identify challenges that

remain, and chart the course for addressing those challenges.  Over

5,000 women participated in the summit, which focused on economic

empowerment, health and wellness, education, violence against women,

entrepreneurship and innovation, and civic engagement.  Highlights

included a talk by Mikaila Ulmer, the 11-year-old CEO of Bee Sweet

Lemonade, who encouraged attendees to “dream like a kid.”  Marley Dias,

the 11-year-old founder of hashtag 1000 Black Girl Books movement, was

also present, discussing how diversity is a necessary step to achieving

gender equality.  Way to go to all the incredible speakers and girls

present, and we look forward to the amazing steps they will take for

women in the US.

Also

this month, the Education Cannot Wait fund has committed nearly 4

billion dollars to help 75 million children living in conflict and

crisis around the world return to school.  The fund was announced at the

World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May, and “represents a

tremendous shift in thinking about how to protect and respond in crisis,

how to take the long view, and how to understand the impact of lost

opportunities on children and youth.”  Currently, less than 2 percent of

humanitarian aid for emergencies is spent on education, and refugee

girls have a 90 percent chance of dropping out of school.  These girls

become more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, often becoming victims

of gender-based violence, forced labor, and early marriage.  The new

fund will use lessons learned from recent crises - such as the Ebola

epidemic - to inform how funds will be spent and where programs are most

needed.  So far, it has been announced that the fund will have five key

functions focused on inspiring political commitment, planning joint

responses, building funds, strengthening capacity, and improving

accountability.

And

in the United States, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has one more

female artist on display!  This month, 18-year-old Cliffannie

Forrester’s oil painting titled, “Uganda,” was put on display at the Met

after winning a scholarship competition in New York City.  The painting

was inspired by a mission trip she took to Uganda with her church.  It

will be on view until October 23, 2016 at the museum.

In

the United Kingdom, domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid - in partnership

with Welsh Women’s Aid - has launched a new scheme called “Ask Me” to

combat domestic abuse.  The scheme calls for people to become

ambassadors and reach out to those being victimized, training them in

the warning signs of domestic abuse and providing resources for victims.

 The scheme is being piloted in three areas across England and Wales,

with the aim of extending nationally, and is funded through the Comic

Relief and tampon tax.

Also

in the UK, three 12-year-old girls were hospitalized this month after

taking “teddy tablets” - which turned out to be the drug ecstasy.

 Police are unsure how the girls obtained the pills, but they were found

at a shopping center in Manchester.  Last month, a 17-year-old girl

died after taking ecstasy in the form of a “mastercard” tablet, and

several other teenagers have been found unconscious or dead after taking

similar tablets.  A spokesperson for Salford Royal NHS foundation trust

confirmed the girls were treated and either released or transferred to

the appropriate specialist hospital for ongoing care.

In

perhaps the worst news of the month, we learned in early June that 19

Yazidi girls were burned alive by ISIS militants after refusing to

become sex slaves of their captors.  Reports indicate the burning was

carried out publicly in Mosul in front of a crowd of hundreds.  The

Yazidi girls were among the thousands of girls taken captive since 2014,

when Mosul fell into ISIS control.  They practice the Yazidi religion,

an ancient Mesopotamian religion independent of other religious systems

in the Middle East and almost exclusively practiced by ethnic Kurds.

 Many, if not all, of the girls captured are forced to become their

captors’ sex slaves, according to the spoils of warfare provisions set

forth in ISIS’s extremist doctrine.  Recently, more attention has been

focused on the human trafficking resulting from ISIS’s doctrines, as

escaped girls recount the horrors of their time in captivity and ISIS

sex slaves are being sold online.  The Human Rights Watch noted, “Many

of the abuses, including torture, sexual slavery, and arbitrary

detention, would be war crimes if committed in the context of the armed

conflict, or crimes against humanity if they were part of ISIS policy

during a systematic or widespread attack on the civilian population.

 The abuses against Yazidi women and girls...including the practice of

abducting women and girls and forcibly converting them to Islam and/or

forcibly marrying them to ISIS members, may be part of a genocide

against Yazidis.”

It

didn’t take long for the United Nations to follow with their own

statement, declaring that the ISIS enslavement, murder, and torture of

Yazidis is a genocide.  This declaration is a huge step forward in

getting justice for former victims and for justifying armed action

against ISIS.  It also means that ISIS can be charged with crimes

against humanity, war crimes, and genocide in the International Criminal

Court.  The declaration is based on reports from UN investigators who

interviewed dozens of Yazidi survivors, and outlines the horrors that

captives face at the hands of ISIS as well as a legal analysis of ISIS’s

intent to eliminate the Yazidi population.  Today, more than 3,200

women and girls are estimated to be current captive victims of sexual

slavery held by ISIS - and that doesn’t count the hundreds, if not

thousands, who have already died at the hands of ISIS.  Men taken

captive are forced to become ISIS fighters and convert to Islam, or be

killed.  Girls as young as nine years old are being sold into slavery

online, having been repeatedly raped by multiple ISIS fighters.  

Additionally,

international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has agreed to represent

Nadia Murad, who has been speaking out against ISIS and recounting the

horrors of her captivity, and the Yazidi people when the time comes for

ISIS to be brought to trial.  It is our fervent hope that such a time

will come soon - and that this genocide will end.

In

other tragic news, an Egyptian teenager has died as a result of

complications from undergoing female genital mutilation.  The procedure

was performed by a registered doctor, despite the practice being illegal

in Egypt.  The hospital where the procedure was performed has been shut

down by authorities, and the case is being investigated by state

prosecutors.  In Egypt, 92 percent of married women have undergone FGM.

 The practice has been illegal since 2008.

In

The Gambia, traditional leaders from across the country have

unanimously declared that they will fight to end child marriage in their

respective districts.  The chiefs also called on parents to allow their

children to focus on their education, taking it upon themselves as

custodians of the law in support of the First Lady’s initiative to end

child marriage.  There is now talk of laws that would empower the chiefs

to implement initiatives to stop the practice at the community level

and in district tribunals.  

Another

warrior in the fight against child marriage is Rachana Sunar, who spoke

at the Oslo Freedom Forum with the poignant question, “Am I a girl, or a

mother?”  15-year-old Rachana is from Nepal, where over 40 percent of

girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18.  Though the legal

code states that the minimum age for marriage is 20, cultural norms and

traditions in Nepal continue the practice.  Rachana was nearly one of

the girls - though she escaped by convincing her parents that if she

left school early, they would have to pay the scholarship that had

covered her tuition.  She is actively speaking out against the practice

in Nepal, encouraging girls to study and think independently, through

her work with Sambad and the Stromme Foundation.

And

in Ethiopia, good news as we learned that child marriage is on the

decline.  The decline is attributed to Ethiopia’s strong policy and

legal frameworks, including the National Alliance to End Child Marriage

by 2025.  While awareness of the law is increasing, millions of

Ethiopian girls remain at risk of child marriage, adolescent pregnancy,

and gender-based violence -- and activists are calling on the people to

view the decline as a sign that strategies are working and child

marriage can be eradicated.

In

more good news, India is hoping to introduce a much needed law on human

trafficking, which will plug loopholes in the existing laws.  The

Indian Women and Child Development Minister has drafted the law, which

will strengthen and consolidate existing laws under several ministries

dealing with human trafficking.  The new law will have provisions that

ensure unpaid wages are reimbursed to victims, seize property belonging

to traffickers, and enforce other economic penalties on traffickers.  In

addition, the act of administering hormone shots to girls in order to

accelerate their sexual maturity will be made punishable with up to ten

years in jail and a fine.  Most importantly, the new law will cease

punishing victims as criminals, and instead offer assistance and

protection to victims, including establishing new identities, providing

rehabilitation services, building more shelters, and setting up

fast-track courts to expedite trafficking cases.  All agencies that

supply domestic help to victims will be under mandatory registration,

and a special investigative agency will coordinate the efforts with

neighboring countries.

Back

in the UK, Parliament recently unveiled a large art installation

celebrating women’s struggle for the vote.  The six-meter high light

sculpture was installed above Westminster Hall’s entrance and is called

“New Dawn.”  Created by Mary Branson, the work features 168 hand-blown

glass scrolls as a nod to the efforts of campaigners who fought for

women’s rights.  While the artwork was meant to celebrate suffragettes

and their work, the installation was soon met with protests.  

Sisters

Uncut members donned suffragette outfits and chained themselves with

black paper-chains to the Houses of Parliament, in an effort to

highlight that the fight for women’s rights, safety and independence is

far from over.  While they celebrate and welcome the art installation

itself, the members were protesting the current government, whose

violent austerity agenda has negatively affected women’s lives in the

UK.  Currently, two women a week are murdered by a partner or ex-partner

in the UK, and domestic violence services have been in the decline as a

result of government funding cuts - leading to two in every three women

being denied needed services and safety from abuse.  Sisters Uncut

activists wore sashes, placards, old-fashioned hats, and long black

skirts while holding flares in suffragette colors of green and purple,

chanting lines from Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom from Death” speech.  

Other

protests occurred this month, as well.  At the Tate Modern Gallery in

London, a group of female and non-binary activists appeared during

opening night of the museum’s new wing to protest the gallery’s

exclusion of artist Ana Mendieta.  Ana was a highly influential women of

colour performance artists and sculptor, suspected of being murdered by

her partner in 1985.  The Tate owns works of both Ana and her partner,

but in their new wing, they opted to display the art of her partner and

keep Ana’s works in storage.  The activists draped a banner reading

“Carl Andre Killed Ana Mendieta” over one of Andre’s sculptures, while

removing their hoodies to expose red paint on their arms to symbolize

Ana’s seminal work, “Body Tracks.”  A statement released after the event

revealed the protestors are part of the Where is Ana Mendieta movement,

which sets out to respond to the glorification of violent men and the

erasure of female, non-binary, and PoC figures within the art world.

In

Brazil, Copacabana beach was covered with 420 pairs of red and

red-stained underwear in a protest against rape culture.  In late May, a

16-year-old Brazilian girl was gang raped by 33 men in Rio de Janeiro,

and the men then bragged about their attacks on Twitter.  The survivor

later came public about her experiences, but police have been slow to

act in identifying and charging the men with crimes.  The case has

rocked Brazil, and the beach protest is one of many that have emerged

across the country.  The Copacabana beach protest was meant to symbolize

that Brazil's’ rape rate is 420 rapes every 72 hours - totalling nearly

50,000 women each year.  

And

finally, in Rio, young women have led the Occupy High School Movement

to demand resources for failing state schools.  The Occupy movement

began in 2015, with students across the country demanding quality

education.  Middle-class and rich families in Brazil rarely use the

public schools - opting instead for private schools, which are the only

way students can pass entrance exams to attend free public universities.

 Students who attend public schools have little chance of getting a

full education, and almost no chance at attending college.  The Occupy

movement has taken over 300 schools so far, and is led primarily by

girls.  

Please help to support future production of GirlSpeak by visiting our website and clicking “Donate.”

Uncover the ancient secrets of three incredible queens: Amanirenas, queen of the Kush who led a successfull rebellion against the Romans in Egypt; Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, whose fascination with snakes would drive the course of history; and Hatshepsut, the longest-reigning female pharoah of Ancient Egypt, whose success was so great that she remains throughout Egypt despite attempts to erase her from the historical record...and whose accomplishments were so prolific that every major museum in the world has something she built.

We're rounding up the latest girl-related news for the month of May, including an awesome new contest from our friends at Global Girl Media!  Learn the violence, progress, and incredible things affecting girls around the world and how you can help.

Celebrate International Museums Day 2016 with us as we journey around the world to uncover the cultural landscapes of girlhood.  

What sites speak to the stories of girls throughout time?  What memorials do we pass by every day without realizing their voices are calling out to us?  

 Join us as we discover their stories - and invite you to help us discover more.

Tiffany rounds up the latest girl-related news from around the globe, including several incredible girls making waves in journalism and business!

Helena Wallace explores how the punk movement challenged society, changing the experience in music, culture, and art for an entire generation of girls.

March was an INCREDIBLE month for girls around the world!  Discover all the great legislative strides, new programs, and incredible girls who made this year's Women's History Month awesome.

How were the lives of German, Italian, and Japanese girls affected by World War II?  

What new opportunities - and threats - became part of their everyday existence? 

And what was life like for the most persecuted girls - the Jews?   

Join Mary Horrell to discover the stories of girls on the Axis side of World War II.

How were the lives of British, American, French, and Soviet girls affected by World War II?  

What new opportunities - and threats - became part of their everyday existence?  

 Join Mary Horrell on a journey through the lives of girls on the Allied side of the war.