The story of the ‘Kindertransporte’ (Kindertransports)

   On 2nd December 1938, the first transport with children from Berlin, Hanover and Leipzig arrived in England. The last transport reached refuge on the island on 2nd September 1939, one day after the beginning of the Second World War. Only one final group of 74 children waiting in the Netherlands was able to follow in May 1940.
Most of those children took the train from their home towns or a larger city nearby, to Hoek van Holland (some also took the train to Hamburg), where they transferred to a ferry that took them to Harwich on the east coast of England. They then took another train to Liverpool Street Station in London.

Arrival

   In England, many children and young people first came to a central reception camp such as the Dovercourt holiday camp, or else into a prearranged hostel. Others were picked up by relatives or host families at London's Liverpool Street Station. The first weeks and months without their parents and their familiar surroundings were very difficult for almost all of the children. Adjusting to the new situation could be made easier by having loving host parents, siblings, or friends who had emigrated at the same time, but for many children, the overwhelming experience in their lives was of loneliness and alienation.
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