From Dec. 1, 1938, to the start of World War II on Sept. 1, 1939, nearly 10,000 Jewish children were sent, without their parents, out of Nazi Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia to safety in Great Britain. While more than 1.5 million children perished in the Holocaust, these children were saved by the Kindertransport rescue movement.
Kurt and Margaret Goldberger, child survivors of the Kindertransports, will share their personal stories of the Kindertransports at Tulsa’s 16th annual Interfaith Holocaust Commemoration on Thursday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Emunah, 17th Street and Peoria Avenue.
The Yom Hashoah Commemoration is an annual event sponsored by the Council for Holocaust Education, a committee of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, in cooperation with numerous interfaith and community organizations, including the Circle Cinema and Tulsa City-County Library.
Born in Vienna, Austria, Kurt Goldberger emigrated to England on a Kindertransport in 1939 when he was almost 14. Born in Berlin, Germany, Margaret Goldberger also emigrated to England on a Kindertransport in 1939 when she was 13. The couple met in New York at a gathering of refugees in 1947. Kurt served as past president of The Kindertransport Association of North America from 1999-2012, and currently serves as vice president of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust. Margaret is an active board member of The Kindertransport Association, as well as a docent and speaker for the Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, N.Y.
According to The Kindertransport Association’s website at http://www.kindertransport.org, the Kindertransport rescue operation was unique in that Jews, Quakers and Christians of many denominations worked together to rescue primarily Jewish children. These children were spared the horrors of the death camps, but were uprooted, separated from their parents, and transported to a different culture where they faced “not the unmitigated horror of the death camps, but a very human mixture of kindness, indifference, occasional exploitation and the selflessness of ordinary people faced with needy children.”
As in past years, the commemoration program includes an exhibit of projects created by students in Holocaust studies classes from various Tulsa area schools. In addition, a 10-piece orchestra conducted by Tulsan Dan Wooten will present selected music from Lee Holdridge’s compositions from the film “Into the Arms of Strangers.” Holdridge has composed, conducted and orchestrated music for many award-winning Hollywood films and TV shows. Plus, the Tulsa City-County Library will have available for checkout many Holocaust books and media.
Due to limited parking at Congregation B’nai Emunah, there will be free shuttle rides available from Temple Israel, 2004 E. 22nd Place. Contact the Jewish Federation of Tulsa at 918-495-1100 for more information about the commemoration. Contact the Tulsa City-County Library at 918-549-7323 for more information about Holocaust resources.