The exhibition, Kindertransport – Rescuing Children on the Brink of War, illuminates the story of the Kindertransport (German for “Children’s Transport”), the astonishing rescue effort that brought approximately 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi Germany to Great Britain and other countries, including Sweden, between 1938 and 1940.
This exhibition explores the difficult and often heartbreaking journeys through original artifacts and personal stories. It brings the Kindertransport to life by presenting objects that the children brought with them on their passage to England; letters between parents and children; new audio testimonies by survivors; and a series of dramatic stories that link the materials in the gallery to the broader context of the era.
The Minnesota debut of this exhibition will be accompanied by The Story is Here, featuring the stories of local families in the Midwest who were personally affected by the Kindertransport.
Kindertransport – Rescuing Children on the Brink of War was created and organized by Yeshiva University Museum and the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, and is being co-presented in Minnesota by the Greenberg Family Fund for Holocaust Awareness at Beth El Synagogue, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), and the American Swedish Institute (ASI). It was previously exhibited at the Center for Jewish History in New York and Holocaust Memorial Center in Michigan.
Registration required for all programs. Follow links for registration and payment info.
| Date | Event | Details |
| July 22 | Exhibit Opens: Kindertransport: Rescuing Children on the Brink of War | Exhibit opens to the public, through Oct. 31, 2021. |
| July 23
9:00 AM |
Babies at the Castle | Program for babies and caregivers at ASI. Tours are approximately 30 minutes plus 15 minutes of sensory play. Designed for babies up to 15 months. Cost: $15 |
| July 27
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection.
Guest host: Michael Simonson, Archivist/Public Outreach, Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History and Ingrid Nyholm-Lange, Director of Experience at ASI, discuss the exhibition collaboration. |
| August 10
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection.
Guest host: Sandy Baron, daughter of a Kindertransport refugee, will share her family’s story. |
| August 12
7:00 – 8:30 PM |
From Stockbroker to Hero: The Story of Sir Nicholas Winton and the Kindertransport, as told by his son Nick Winton | In conjunction with the exhibit, Beth El Synagogue will host an evening with Nick Winton. Winton is the son of Sir Nicholas George Winton, a British humanitarian credited with organizing the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War 2. What made 29-year-old Winton give up his skiing holiday to rescue these children from the Nazis and how did he do it? Winton’s son Nick will tell his father’s inspiring story about the life-changing events that transformed the destiny of so many.
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| August 12, 19, 26
1:00 – 3:00 PM |
Handcraft Workshop | Knit the Green Sweater inspired by Krystyna Chiger’s Holocaust story. Students provide their own materials; please check your gauge in advance and come ready to cast on. Facilitated by Laura Ricketts. Cost: $85 ASI members, $95 non-members |
| August 24
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection.
Guest host: TBA |
| September 9
10:00 AM |
Afternoons at ASI: Jewish Museum Stockholm | Kindertransport in Sweden- objects and stories from the Jewish Museum in Stockholm.
Registration TBA. |
| September 14
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection
Guest host: Steve Hunegs, Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, examines Kindertransport between 1938–39. |
| September 19
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
University Day | Join ASI for a day of learning with lectures by experts related to Kindertransport: Dr. Kyle Ward, Professor Minnesota State University, Mankato; Melissa Hacker, filmmaker; Beth Gendler, Executive Director of NCJW Minnesota; and Uri Berliner, Senior Business Editor at NPR. Tickets: $125, includes boxed lunch and coffee/tea. Educator/Student scholarships available. $50 Virtual connection. |
| September 28
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection.
Guest host: Laura Zelle, Director of Tolerance Minnesota, and Erin Stromgren, ASI Exhibitions Manager, provide insights on The Story is Here, the local component for Kindertransport. |
| October 5
10:00 AM |
Afternoons at ASI: Jewish Museum Stockholm Virtual Museum Tour | Virtual. Museum educator Andreas Schein from the Jewish Museum in Stockholm talks about Kindertransport as well as “Closed-borders Sweden.” $10 ASI members $15 non-members. |
| October 12
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour 5 | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection.
Guest host: Rabbi Alexander Davis, Beth El Synagogue, offers a faith-based perspective. |
| October [TBA] | 
Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival film: Kindertransports to Sweden by Gülseren Sengezer |
This documentary is the story of four Jewish children who were sent to Sweden in 1939 as part of a “kindertransport” (“child transport”), a way for parents to evacuate their children alone to escape the Nazi regime. Those now-elderly children still live with feelings of loss, loneliness, deracination, and guilt. Tens of thousands of children were evacuated on kindertransports, 500 of them to Sweden, and most of them never saw their parents again. Some 80 years later, survivors talk about a neglected chapter in the story of Jewish suffering. The subjects are valuable witnesses, branded by processing the horror, who will soon be silent forever. |
| October 14
1:00 PM |
Afternoons at ASI: Child Separation and Refugee Crises from the Kindertransport to Today | Robert Aronson, Chair at HIAS, the nation’s oldest refugee rights organization, talks about rescuing Jews from the pogroms in Eastern Europe. Free, but registration is required via ASImn.org. |
| October 26
5:00 PM |
Virtual Exhibition Tour 6 | Gather with friends and colleagues to learn more about Kindertransport. $20 per connection.
Guest host: Byron Nordstrom, Professor Emeritus, History/Scandinavian Studies, Gustavus Adolphus College, provides a Swedish and historical examination of Kindertransport. |
VISITING THE AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE
ASI is located at 2600 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55407. Advance reservations are not required, but still available. For more information, go to www.ASImn.org, or call 612-871-4907.
MUSEUM ADMISSION
Museum Admission: $12 adults, $8 seniors ages 62 +, $6 ages 6–18 and full-time students with ID.
Free for ASI members and children ages 5 and under.
HOURS — ASI, FIKA & THE MUSEUM STORE
Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The ASI, FIKA and the Store are closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The full FIKA lunch menu and counter service are available from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE is a museum and cultural center that is a gathering place for all people to share experiences around themes of culture, migration, the environment and the arts, informed by enduring ties to Sweden. It encompasses the historic Turnblad Mansion and the contemporary Nelson Cultural Center as well as the ASI Museum Store and the critically acclaimed FIKA Café. Founded by Swedish immigrant and newspaper publisher Swan J. Turnblad in 1929, ASI has grown to engage many audiences through innovative art exhibitions, public events, community and school programs including Story Swap with Wellstone International High School, language classes and Nordic craft and food-related workshops. The Wall Street Journal called ASI “[a] model of how a small institution can draw visitors through exciting programming.”
