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Kindertransport

The Kindertransport (or ‘Children’s Transport’ in German) was an organised rescue effort that allowed around 10,000 children to come to the UK to escape Nazi persecution. After the violence of the1938 November pogroms known as Kristallnacht, and due to pressure from various charities, the British government allowed unaccompanied children under the age of 17 to resettle in the UK as refugees. The Kindertransport was organized and run by charities and welfare organizations and an estimated 75% of evacuees were Jewish. The scheme was meant to be a temporary solution and was conducted based upon the condition that the children were emigrate elsewhere or return home once it was safe. However, as the Second World War and Holocaust unfolded, the majority of Kindertransport children stayed permanently in the UK.