Devising: day 7

Today was more of a discussion based lesson. In our groups we were instructed to have a think about narrowing down our topics and looking at what topics or events we could use to inspire or base a piece around. We had a serious think about drugs but thought that the topic was a little childish and difficult to do in a sophisticated and mature way. We did, after some deliberation, narrow our choices down to the Armenian genocide and kinder transport. We split our group in half and gave each other research to do. My research was kindertransport. This follows below.

I found this info from an archive about World War Two

"The first Kindertransport arrived at Harwich, England on December 2, 1938, bringing 196 children from a Berlin Jewish orphanage burned by the Nazis during the night of November 9.  The transports ended with the outbreak of war in September 1939.

One very last transport left on the freighter Bodegraven from Ymuiden on May 14, 1940 – the day Rotterdam was bombed, one day before Holland surrendered – raked by gunfire from German warplanes. The eighty children on deck had been brought by earlier transports to imagined safety in Holland. Altogether, though exact figures are unknown, the Kindertransports saved around 10,000 children, most of them Jewish, from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Children of the Kindertransport were dispersed to many parts of the British Isles. About half lived with foster families, the others in hostels, group homes, and farms in England,  Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Those older than fourteen, unless they were fortunate enough to be sponsored by individuals and set to boarding schools or taken into foster care, were frequently absorbed into the country’s labour force after a few weeks of training, mainly in agriculture or domestic service."

In addition, I found a recount of a young girl talking about her journey, away from her parents and how she found herself in London with her foster family and adjusting to life as a result

"Trembling, Eva clung to me her eyes stabbing in my back like daggers. Mother and father turned away as I clung to them. I felt lonely; I was by myself and I had to be strong. The realisation was unbearable. The train jumped and jerked and eventually started chugging forward. I could hear farewells ringing in my ears. “Be a good girl now Milena. Look after Eva.” And they were gone.

Two days later I was awoken by the sound of heavy boots. Germans. Questions raced through my mind.  What did they want? Would they hurt us? Would they dare use there gun? They marched into our  carriage, Eva screamed I held her close. She was scared, I comforted her (inside I felt just as worried as her). We had to watch as they took Eva’s favourite teddy, which mother gave her. Anger flickered inside me surging through my body like a wild fire. I  looked through the window the scenery flew by like a falcon.

London with its tall buildings and chattering people was very daunting. A man with a clipboard came over and showed us to the Radcliffs and at first sight they looked like a normal British family. Mummy Radcliff  gave us a hug but at that time Eva was still tentative. She hid behind me as we headed off into the  distance for our new life hoping that our real parents would come back soon."

In addition, we created a brainstorm based around the ideas of kindertransport.