Kindertransport - Channel Crossing to Life

Kindertransport - Channel Crossing to Life is the title of a bronze sculpture by the sculptor Frank Meisler on the Koningin Emmaboulevard in the ferry port of Hoek van Holland , Rotterdam , which he designed together with his long-time colleague, the sculptor Arie Ovadia.

The sculpture is reminiscent of the Kindertransporte of children from Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia, who were considered Jewish under the Nuremberg Laws . They were brought to Great Britain from the German Reich or from countries threatened by it and mostly drove from the Hoek van Holland to Harwich . The transports were supported by the Dutch government and volunteers. The first transport on December 2, 1938 to the last at the outbreak of war in 1939 brought about 10,000 children to Great Britain.

The sculpture of bronze was 30 November 2011 by the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb revealed. There were also almost 40 guests who had traveled to Great Britain on the transports as children, including the artist Frank Meisler himself.

The monument

The life-size sculptural group of six children in travel clothes represents the moment of waiting for the ferry that is to take them from Rotterdam to Great Britain. Except for a seated boy, the gaze of the standing children is turned towards the water. You have luggage such as suitcases and rucksacks with you as well as a stuffed animal and a violin case. Next to the seated child is a newspaper from the Dutch newspaper The Dutchman , dated November 11, 1938 and with the words Allowing German Jewish Children and thousands of Jews to leave Germany .

An information board bears the inscription:

CHANNEL CROSSING TO LIFE / 1938 CHILD TRANSPORTATION 1939 .

Between 1938 and the outbreak of the War 10,000 mainly Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, were permitted to enter England without their parents and escape Nazi persecution. Most crossed the channel from the Hoek of Holland to Harwich. Their journey was aided by the Dutch Government and Dutch volunteers. This sculpture is dedicated to the people of Holland and the United Kingdom who saved these children from certain death.

Tussen 1938 en het uitbreken van de Tweede Wereldoorlog create 10.000 voornamelijk Joodse kinderen uit Duitsland, Oostenrijk en Tsjechoslowakije toestemming om zonder hun ouders naar Engeland te komen om te ontsnappen aan de Nazi-vervolgingen. Bijna al deze kinderen stake here in Hoek van Holland het kanaal over naar Harwich. Zij will be tijdens hun reis bijgestaan ​​door de Nederlandse overheid en door Nederlandse vrijwilligers. The work of art is aan het Nederlandse en Britse volk, as thanks to het helpen van deze kinderen, the daardoor allen de oorlog hebben overleefd.

This sculpture has been created thanks to the strong support of the City of Rotterdam

The monument is mede dead came with inzet van de Gemeente Rotterdam

Much gratitude for the generous contributions of:

David Segal - in honor of his father Markus Segal * New York, USA

We must always remember… Michael Spektor's Family

Friends and Leaders Worldwide * ISRAEL BONDS

In recognition of Dutch heroism and gratitude for the safe passage of the Kindertransport Association of Jewish Refugees, London, UK

Lisa Bechner - for her initiative and dedication

Sculptors: Frank Meisler, Arie Ovadia Jaffa, Israel 2011

Corresponding monuments

Corresponding sculptures by Meisler can be found at other Kindertransport train stations :

• London : On the initiative of Prince Charles , the Kindertransport memorial has existed since 2006 - The Arrival at Liverpool Street Station , where the Jewish children arrived.
• Berlin : The memorial with the title Trains to Life - Trains to Death: 1938–1939 was inaugurated in 2008 at Berlin Friedrichstrasse station . In 1938 the first Kindertransport drove from Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin via Rotterdam or via the Port of Hamburg to London.
• Gdansk : The plastic Kindertransport - The Departure made of bronze was placed in front of the Gdańsk Główny train station in 2009 at the request of the Gdańsk Mayor Paweł Adamowicz .
• Hamburg : In 2015, the Kindertransport - The Last Farewell monument was erected in memory of the approximately 1,000 Jewish children who traveled from Hamburg to Great Britain between December 1938 and September 1, 1939.

Meisler's groups of sculptures, which have since become the European route of the Kindertransporte , show similarities and different design details.

Web links

Commons : Kindertransport - Channel Crossing to Life  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Frank Meisler's website on Kindertransport (English)
• German Bundestag: Remembering is work for the present and the future , 2011

Individual evidence

1. ^ RTV Rijnmond: Monument ter nagedachtenis aan kindertransporten of November 30, 2011. Accessed on January 27, 2017.
2. ^ Die Welt : Kindertransporte 1938–1939 . Retrieved December 4, 2016

Coordinates: 51 ° 58 ′ 43 ″  N , 4 ° 7 ′ 10 ″  E