Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

Parents need to know that Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, an Academy Award-winning documentary film, gives a human face to a small number of surviving victims of the Nazi Holocaust. While more than 1,500,000 European Jewish children were killed during Germany's ascendance, 10,000 were saved in 1938 and 1939 by a fierce humanitarian effort to get them to safety -- "into the arms" of willing English families who became their guardians. This wrenching separation of children from their families is intimately retold by those actual "children" in this film made more than a half century after the events that transformed their lives. In-depth interviews of the men and women with their vivid memories are enhanced by photographs, archival footage, and a thoughtful narration by Judi Dench. The overall concept is poignant and sad and a grim reminder of humankind's astonishing capacity for evil. That, and some of the footage showing the devastating conditions and emaciated prisoners of the concentration camps upon liberation, makes this important and moving film best for teens and up. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.