Kindertransport

There are, in fact, many items in our archives relating to 'Kindertransport', as Woodcraft was one of the largest secular organisations working to rescue children from Fascists before Wolrd War Two. Through International Camps and contact with The Red Falcolns in Europe in the 1930s, many Woodcraft Folk members had personal connections with people persecuted across Europe.

The item chosen for '100 Objects Spanning 100 Years' Exhibition' was a 'Helper' magazine dating from 1938 with a woodcut illustration on the front cover depicting Concentration camps already in existence, before the 'Death Camps' of World War Two.

More about

In October 1938 Henry ‘Koodoo’ Fair, our National Organiser, was visited by a Czech youth leader from the Red Falcons with an urgent request. Henry knew the young Czech woman because she had previously been at the Brighton Woodcraft International Camp, 1937 and he had probably attended the Bodenbach International Camp where several hundred Czech Red Falcons had attended. Red Falcon are socialist internationalist youth groups, and persecuted by the Fascists, being closed down and their members ‘in peril of their life, hundreds are refugees, sleeping in fields and ditches… '

How it became one of our 100 Objects

Children rescued as part of 'Kindertransport' as well as others persecuted, and their allies and friends, found a welcome, safe space at Woodcraft Folk, and still to this day are present and an important part of Woodcraft. Holocaust Memorial is an important annual event at many Woodcraft Folk groups.

'My Father was a holocaust survivor, came over on the Kindertransport...'

Diane Fairfax