This is the story of the Jewish children who fled to America and France on the eve of WW2, thus avoiding incarceration or death in the Holocaust. Based around oral and written testimonies, Who Will Rescue Us? traces the efforts of networks of relief workers and aid organisations alongside Jewish families themselves as they struggled to find safety for their children from Nazi persecution. Many of the stories are poignant.

“I was still unable to fathom a reason for all the sadness especially since we would be embarking on a short pleasure trip to Paris the ‘City of Lights’. No one told me the trip will be a short one. I must have assumed that on my own. We boarded the train, waved and blew kisses to our mother. We’re on our way. It was a blessing that I didn’t realise you wouldn’t see Mom or the little ones for a long time, or as it turned out forever. I don’t think I would have been able to handle the separation.” Benjamin Hirsch, child refugee, whose family did not survive.

The links between France and the USA are well-documented. The book is illustrated with a centrepiece of colour and black and white photographs, including among others, refugees arriving at the Rothschild’s Chateau de la Guette in France, where the older children received a progressive education that included sports and gardening. But of course France was not to remain safe for long, and soon moves had to be made to evacuate the children away from Nazi-occupied Vichy France to America. At the time this was not easy because of the American public’s ‘anti refugee’ stance.

Opposers to the scheme insisted that 20,000 children would soon grow into ‘20,000 ugly adults’ – which shows the level of antagonism to the idea. The Non-Sectarian Committee for German Refugee Children was formed in 1939 and was supported by Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, despite fierce opposition. In the excellent notes at the back, Faure says that much of the pressure brought to bear on the authorities was made by women.

I have read much about the English Kindertransport where unaccompanied children were found homes wherever possible, and no account was taken of their Jewish heritage. In France and the US, this was different, attempts were made to match the children with Jewish families wherever possible. This research on the small group of refugees in France makes for an interesting comparison with other bigger Kindertransport stories, and WW2 refugee experiences as a whole.

What makes this account different and very engaging is that next to the efforts of the transnational organisations, the author explores the children’s own impressions and uses documentation from the refugees themselves. Many children kept diaries, drew, wrote letters, and tried to keep in touch with family. The research never strays far from the human stories at its heart.

This is a well-researched, scholarly, and yet moving book in which all the sources are thoroughly documented. It includes tables listing the transports, historical notes about the research, and a useful bibliography, and I highly recommend it.