Kindertransports to Sweden: Documentary about Jewish children sent by their parents on Kindertransports to safe Sweden during the Nazi regime
Plot and background
These are four Jewish witnesses who were able to escape the terror of the National Socialist regime thanks to their parents, but who had to experience their true trauma as a result. Between 1938 and 1840, 20,500 minors were transported from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to other countries for protection. 500 of them spend the war years in Sweden. There they are plagued by homelessness, uprootedness, terrible nightmares. The chance of seeing their parents alive again is vanishingly small.
Gülseren Şengezer’s documentary sheds light on the fate of four children of that time, reports on their memories, the further course of their lives and how difficult it was for them, even in adulthood, to comprehend the deeds of their parents. The traumas that accompany them are, at first glance, different and yet united by pain, loss and the burden of finding new perspectives in a country of refuge.
After several postponements due to the corona pandemic, “Towards Life: Kindertransporte nach Schweden” has been given a new theatrical release. On 3 March 2022, the poignant documentary will be released in German cinemas. The documentary received the age rating FSK 12.
