The Parkes Institute is pleased to announce the creation of the digital exhibition, Complicating Narratives of the Kindertransport. This exhibition was curated as part of its online Kindertransport workshop for educators. It demonstrates the strengths of the Parkes Institute and the Special Collections on this particular episode of Holocaust and refugee history.
Photo: Bundesarchiv – arrival of Jewish refugees in London (February 1939)
The Kindertransport was the rescue of approximately 10,000 predominantly Jewish children who were brought to Britain temporarily in the months before the Second World War. Through the exhibition, visitors can learn more about the Kindertransport and how to teach it. The exhibition also shares resources that were created for the course, including mini-lectures from members of the Parkes Institute and an interactive map created by a PhD student that charts the global journeys that Kinder made. The course and exhibition were created as part of our continuing outreach work.
In the exhibition, viewers can discover a selection of stories from the Kindertransport. There are over 150 digitised documents from the University of Southampton’s Special Collection and, with permission from Manchester Jewish Museum, a digitised copy of the Harris House Diary, a unique diary written by Kinder about their time in the UK. You can explore the experience of a selection of Kindertransportees through thematic case studies or chose to look at one individual’s experience. The Parkes Institute hopes that those viewing the exhibition will leave with a fuller understanding of the Kindertransport.
