Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Mark Jonathan Harris

Writer (WGA):

Mark Jonathan Harris (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 2000 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary | War

Tagline:

In the nine months prior to World War II, 10,000 innocent children left behind their families, their homes, their childhood, and took the journey...

Plot:

The story of the child refugees who were transported to Britain to escape the Nazi Holocaust.

Plot Keywords:

England | Jew | Holocaust | Refugee | 1930s

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Lorraine Allard	...	Herself
Lory Cahn	...	Auschwitz survivor
Mariam Cohen	...	Kurt Fuchel's foster mother
Mirka Colman	...	(voice)
Judi Dench	...	Narrator
Hedy Epstein	...	Herself
Kurt Fuchel	...	Documentary Subject
Alexander Gordon	...	Documentary Subject
Franzi Groszmann	...	Lore Segal's mother
Eva Hayman	...	Herself
Jack Hellman	...	Himself
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alexander Leeb	...	(voice)
Bertha Leverton	...	Herself
Mia Martin	...	(voice)
Ursula Rosenfeld	...	Herself
Inge Sadan	...	Bertha Leverton's sister
Kevin Schwarzwald	...	(voice)
Petra Schwarzwald	...	(voice)
Lore Segal	...	Documentary Subject
Benjamin Singer	...	(voice)
Robert Sugar	...	Himself
Giulia Tassius	...	(voice)
Emilia Von Spreti	...	(voice)
Lavinia Von Spreti	...	(voice)
Nicholas Winton	...	Kindertransport organizer
Norbert Wollheim	...	Documentary Subject

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Germany:o.Al. (bw) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Waddesdon Manor, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Sabine Films

Movie Connections:

Follows My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (1996)

Soundtrack:

Woll'n heimgehn

A Truly Profound Experience.

Watching "Into the Arms of Strangers" was truly a profound experience for me. I am still struggling to put into words all the feelings it evoked in me.

This is the harrowing, compelling true story of Jewish children living in Hitler's Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia who were sent to live in England without their parents. It is told by the children who are now in their sixties and seventies, and it is accompanied by wartime newsreels from both England and Germany. The German footage is especially scary, because it looks much like the English footage, except the wholesome, smiling, patriotic citizens on display are all giving the Nazi salute.

It is hard to imagine being a young child and being taken away not just from your parents, but from your country, your language, and your culture. That really tore me up.

Anyone who sees this movie and doesn't cry is not a human being, but a thing of stone. 10 out of 10.