Jay Hauser

Period 7

12/18/14

Kindertransport vs. Hidden Children

While watching these films on the kindertransports and hidden children, I came up with

an interesting question: Would I rather be a kindertransport child or hidden during the war?

Upon examining the emotional tolls of each option, I would have to say that the better choice for

me would have been becoming a hidden child.

Kindertransport children definitely had the harder emotional journey to make. They were

rarely told that they would never see their family again, and it came as a shock when the came to

that conclusion. They were placed in foster care, trying to pageant-ize themselves to get adopted,

only to be shown up by that annoyingly younger child. Moreover, they were stuck in a country

whose beliefs, traditions, and most importantly, language did not match up with their own.

Young children were stuck in a country with no means of asking for help. let alone supporting

themselves.

Hidden children often had it better by comparison. The film “Secret Lives” shows that

some children developed a bond with the family they stayed with. Even those who didn’t had

someone to care for them personally, which is more than can be said for kindertransport children.

After the war, surviving parents were usually able to be reunited with their children, allowing

their family to start up again. Kindertransport children often did not get that luxury. The rare few

that did (especially young children, as shown by the girl who forgot how to speak her native

language) were left with cultural differences from their parents.