BBC, in Telling Kindertransport Story, Omits Jews

The BBC has issued an apology after a December 26 episode of its long-running program The Repair Shop discussed the Kindertransport at length without once identifying the rescued children as Jews, and even appeared to have edited the content specifically to avoid mentioning Jewish Holocaust victims.

The one-hour episode focused for roughly 15 minutes on a cello damaged during the Kindertransport, yet failed to state that the children involved – including the cello’s original owner – were fleeing Nazi persecution because they were Jewish.

The Repair Shop follows expert craftspeople who restore treasured family items. In this episode, celebrated British actress Dame Helen Mirren brought in a historic cello for restoration. The instrument had belonged to her late friend, theater producer Martin Landau, and was damaged by Nazi guards when he escaped to Britain on the Kindertransport at age 14.

The cello, dating back to the 1800s and missing its neck, remained in disrepair for decades before being entrusted to the show’s luthier, Becky Houghton. The episode later shows Mirren reunited with the restored instrument, which is played by Jewish cellist Raphael Wallfisch.

As The Jewish Chronicle reported, the word “Jewish” appeared to have been removed from the beginning of a sentence spoken by Mirren, which aired as: “…children were put on the Kindertransport.”

Despite the detailed retelling of the cello’s journey and the Kindertransport itself, the program never explained that Landau was forced to flee Germany because he was Jewish.

The Kindertransport was the rescue operation that saved approximately 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-controlled Europe between 1938 and 1939. Their parents sent them to countries including Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium, with resettlement assistance provided by Jewish and humanitarian organizations such as the Central British Fund for German Jewry, the Movement for the Care of Children from Germany, the Society of Friends, and the Polish Jewish Refugee Fund.

Following criticism, the BBC added a clarification to the episode’s iPlayer page stating: “This program is subject to a clarification. The Kindertransport was the organized evacuation of approximately 10,000 children, the majority of whom were Jewish, from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.”

However, as of Monday, the BBC Media Centre’s article about the episode had not been updated to include the words “Jew” or “Jewish.” It still reads: “Originally from Germany, Martin fled the country on the Kindertransport, but unfortunately his cello was broken by the Nazis before he was able to get on the train.” No correction had been added.