The Oscar-winning documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport remains an essential film about the Holocaust. It marked the 25th anniversary of its release earlier this year.

Growing up Jewish in America means growing up with Holocaust education, especially through shul. I can’t say exactly how old I was when I first learned about the cruelties of the Nazis, but it had to have been sometime in elementary school. The ritual director at the synagogue where I grew up was a Holocaust survivor. Over the last 25 years of his life, he told and retold his story. His father had been a rabbi whose synagogue burned down on Kristallnacht—something you never forget, even decades later. He initially escaped to France by way of the Kindertransport.

It’s impossible not to get emotional while watching Into the Arms of Strangers, which presents unforgettable testimonies from a select group of survivors. Nearly 10,000 Jewish and other children escaped Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Danzig, traveling by train, boat, and plane to Great Britain. Watching the film led me to not only take in their stories but to dive into the bonus features, where I learned about reunions that took place following the film’s premiere in 2000.

The film exists because producer Deborah Oppenheimer wanted to learn more about her mother’s own Kindertransport experience. Growing up, Oppenheimer rarely heard the Kindertransport discussed outside her home. Her search for answers ultimately introduced countless viewers to the term itself—spoken aloud when the film’s title was announced during the 2001 Oscar ceremony.

While Into the Arms of Strangers primarily features Kindertransport survivors, it also includes interviews with foster parents, biological parents, and rescuers. Among them is Nicholas Winton—later profiled in Nicky’s Family and portrayed in the biopic One Life—as well as Norbert Wollheim, who played a pivotal role in organizing the Kindertransport after Kristallnacht. These were individuals who risked their lives to save thousands of children. Their testimonies are interwoven with archival footage that deepens the film’s emotional impact.

Although Britain did its part to save those it could—while simultaneously limiting Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine to no more than 15,000 per year over a five-year period—the United States proved far less welcoming. The Wagner-Rogers Bill sought to admit 20,000 refugee children, but loud opposition ultimately caused it to die in committee. What a shame.

Into the Arms of Strangers concludes with a sobering reminder: “The Kindertransport was an act of mercy not equaled anywhere else before the war. Nearly 1,500,000 children perished in the Holocaust.” The vast majority of the children rescued through the Kindertransport never saw their families again.

An interview with Lord Richard Attenborough is featured among the bonus content. It wasn’t featured in Into the Arms of Strangers. He recalls children coming in and out of his family’s home in the late 1930s. His father had helped bring academics to safety, but children would arrive as well. By the time World War II officially broke out, transport to America had ended. When word came that Helga and Irene Bejach’s father was being deported to Auschwitz, the girls had nowhere else to go. Attenborough’s parents decided to take them in—at least temporarily—in hopes that their parents might return.

Because this was my first time watching Into the Arms of Strangers, I had no idea that the Jurassic Park actor grew up alongside two Kindertransport children. They lived with the Attenborough family for eight years before eventually going to America after the war. By the time Attenborough filmed this interview, Irene had died of cancer, while Helga was still alive. They continued to see each other whenever they traveled to America. It was a life-changing experience—one that left me wiping away tears.

Into the Arms of Strangers joined a wave of Holocaust documentaries and other Jewish-themed films embraced by the Academy during the late 1990s. Into addition to this documentary, winners during that period included Anne Frank Remembered, The Long Way Home, The Last Days, and One Day in September. Harris directed two of them.

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport doesn’t just preserve history—it gives voice to those who were forced to grow up far too quickly and carry that loss with them decades later. For a first-time viewer, the experience is overwhelming, humbling, and impossible to forget. Some stories stay with you long after the credits roll. This is one of them.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Mark Jonathan Harris
NARRATOR: Judi Dench
FEATURING: Lorraine Allard, Lory Cahn, Mariam Cohen, Hedy Epstein, Kurt Fuchel, Alexander Gordon, Franzi Groszmann, Eva Hayman, Jack Hellman, Bertha Leverton, Ursula Rosenfeld, Inge Sadan, Lore Segal, Robert Sugar, Nicholas Winton, Norbert Wollheim

Warner Bros. Pictures released Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport in theaters on September 15, 2000. Grade: 5/5

Please subscribe to The Solzy Report and visit Dugout Dirt.