I said, 'Auf Wiedersehen'

85 years ago, over 10,000 mostly Jewish children had to say goodbye to their families. It was a farewell that enabled the children to escape Nazi persecution. They arrived in Great Britain on the so-called Kindertransport in 1938/39 and were placed in foster families or shared accommodation. Parents and children hoped that they would soon be reunited.

The initiative to save mainly Jewish children and young people from National Socialist persecution is the focus of the exhibition I said, 'Auf Wiedersehen' in the Paul-Löbe-Haus of the German Bundestag from 31.01. - 23.02.24. The exhibition presents selected letters from five Jewish families - five documents are shown in the original. Each document conveys an aspect of the painful separation of parents and children. The letters provide an insight into the ambivalent emotions of the parents left behind in the Nazi state, who vacillate between the hope of a reunion and the fear of permanent separation.

The exhibition is curated and directed by Ruth Ur, Managing Director of the Friends of Yad Vashem. It presents five different aspects of the history of this unique rescue project in five themed stations based on five family stories. The letters, and the stories behind them, make the tragedy of separation and loss palpable and also pay tribute to the lives that were saved.