Editorial Review

This Academy Award®-winning documentary (produced with the cooperation of the United States Holocaust Museum) chronicles one of the lesser-known stories of the Holocaust: that of the kindertransport, which saved the lives of 10,000 Jewish children. In the late 1930s, England agreed to accept these children seeking refuge from Nazi oppression. They were placed in foster homes and hostels. Narrated by Dame Judi Dench and directed by Mark Jonathan Harris (who received an Oscar® for his 1997 Holocaust documentary Read more

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Reviews (17)

Good but a glaring ommission
"Into the Arms of Strangers," covers the British kindertransport program that saved some 10,000 Jewish youngsters from annihilation at the hands of the Nazis. Using interviews and actual footage it follows the lives of some of the children as they went from peaceful upbringing to the wrenching experience of seeing their parents perhaps for the last time as their train left the station to the trauma of finding out what happened to them after the war.
i will never shake the image of the swastika balloons
without a doubt, the best documentary film about the holocaust.by this time ive seen most of them, and while i may appear a trifle jaded when writing about them, its partly out of a sense of discomfort and partly out of a sense of anger at filmmakers trivializing the subject by turning images into cliches.the people who made this movie have avoided that, in finding a fascinating new angle by focusing on the lives of the few thousand children who were saved in the days leading up to war by being sent to england -- usually (though not in all cases) never to see their parents again.the archival footage time and again shocks with images we have never seen before: color film of the pogroms, actual footage of kristalnacht, and in arguably the most haunting image ive ever seen on screen, the swastika-marked balloons launched in celebration of the anschluss.heroism comes about when its not sought after.this is among the best films ill ever see.
Painfully well done
The first moments in the movie refer to a child who is about eight years old - the same age as my daughter as I watched the DVD. Perhaps that set a different tone for me because suddenly, this wasn't a documentary about some monumental thing that happened half a century ago, it was a documentary about the pain of a child who was the same age as my own daughter - and my imagination did the rest of the work for the mothers and the fathers.
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Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

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Reviews (3)

Heartrending and Powerful
I saw this award winning documentary at the Palm Springs Film Festival. It traces the journey of the holocaust survivors from the concentration camps of Germany to the beginning of Israel. Near the opening a large headline flashes across the screen with the words, "Dachau 1945." A scene follows which my father, who was there, described to me many years ago. That, like many other scenes in the film show little known or unknown facts and images that will both inspire and haunt viewers for a long time to come. As we face the ravages of war and the domination of the weak by the powerful and greedy once more I wish everyone could see this moving film and learn to open their hearts and minds to the suffering and courage of others.

Incredible, astounding, unimaginable horror.. ending in hope
This is one of the most marvalous portrayals of any historical event, holocaust or otherwise.I watched this film last night, having borrowed it from the library, and I can't get my mind to steer from it. I will bebuying now from Amazon, and I feel that I must have it to show to classes(I'm a History Prof. at a community college) or anyione else who I cantempt into a postition before a TV set. The serendipitous viewing that changed my life...
Late one night, while in a hotel room in London, England, I happened to come across this documentary on the BBC and have not been the same since. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film was the winner of the Best DocumentaryFeature (1997)by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences("Oscar"). The musical score by Lee Holdridge is nothing short ofextraordinary as is Freeman's narration. Also featured are other greatvoices that impart testimonials of those that had survived the Holocaust,and who were attempting to make their way out of Germany following theirmiraculous survival. The documentary focuses on the plight of Holocaustsurvivors from their Liberation, to 1948, the year of Israel's birth--arather unstudied period--at least in the visual, documentary realm. Astunning and indispensable film. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary   

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Reviews (2)

If you think you've seen every film about the holocaust.....
For years I've read every book and watched every film I could find on this subject, but I've never seen or read anything from the perspective of this particular film.It's outstanding!You will forget who you are and you will just "jump" headfirst into history!!This film mainly deals with videos, narratives, etc. of the rescue of the Jews from the camps following the endof WWII.You come away with a better understanding of how the survivors must have felt, and how difficult life was for them even after the war.You will never again think "They survived; they were the lucky ones!"SEE IT!!

The finest documents perhaps crafted to this time...
Late one night, while in a hotel room in London, England, I happened to come across this documentary on the BBC--I have not been the same since. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film was the winner of the Best Documentary Feature (1997) by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The musical score by Lee Holdridge is extraordinary, and highly evocative, as is Freeman's narration itself. Also featured are other great voices that impart testimonials of those that had survived the Holocaust, and who were attempting to make their way out of Germany following their miraculous survival. The documentary focuses on the plight of Holocaust survivors from their Liberation, to 1948, the year of Israel's birth--a rather unstudied period--in the visual, documentary realm. A stunning and important film that should not remain obscure.Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary   

Editorial Review

As Allied troops liberated Nazi concentration camps in the final weeks of World War II, the trials of the Jews in Europe were hardly over. The end of the war brought extreme deprivation and even, in some places, further violence directed against survivors of the Holocaust. This documentary tells the story of the struggle European Jews faced in trying to reach Palestine, which they hoped would become the new Jewish homeland. Archival footage documents how Jews literally walked across snow-clogged mountain passes to reach the Mediterranean. In Italian ports they boarded overcrowded freighters and tried to slip past the blockage of Palestine, which was then controlled by Britain. The physical hardships were only part of the problem, and Read more

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Reviews (10)

A long sad story
A good documentary on the period between the end of WWII and the formation of the tiny nation of Israel. No need to see feature films for drama, it is all here.
a fair look at the founding of israel
ah yes, once more a holocaust movie, this one using the darkest moment of 20th century history to justify the establishment of the modern state of israel. i will not go into the politics here, but merely rate the movie as a piece of art, by which definition it was good.
So-so documentary
A grave documentary of the struggles of European Jews liberated from Nazi encampment to survive the isolationist aftermath of World War II. While the Allied nations strengthened their immigration laws and the survivors' formerly occupied homelands still bore the taint of anti-Semitism, the Jews were forced to live as refugees until founding the nation of Israel three years after the end of the war.I prefer movies such as Schindler's List and Anne Frank to this. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Drama    3. Movie