Posted on December 23, 2025
Around a year ago, a determined researcher made the remarkable discovery of Kindertransport records thought to be lost to history.
Historian Dr Amy Williams, who was doing a postdoctoral research fellowship at Yad Vashem, found the documents while trawling through the museum’s extensive archives.
They included the names of almost all of the approximately 10,000 children who fled Nazi persecution on the Kindertransport, as well as home addresses, dates of birth, parents’ names, chaperones’ names, transport numbers, departure dates, and the committees and offices involved.
Williams’ findings were extremely meaningful to many people, including for Kinder whose young age at the time of their journeys prevented them from remembering many details, and for their descendants looking to trace their family history.
Speaking to the JC, Williams, who has devoted the last decade to researching the Kindertransport, says: “This was the most important part of the work… As soon as I found the lists, I knew that the first thing to do was to reunite the Kinder with them.
“Their eyes lit up, they were so shocked, they were just astonished. Seeing what it means to the survivors is beyond anything I could write in a history book. Having that moment face-to-face with them as you tell them about their journeys, then they tell you all their information, and then I’m able to confirm all this because of the documents is an experience every academic should dream about. You learn more in those moments than at any other time.”