This film is part of Free
Chief Rabbi's Emergency Council
Poignant postwar appeal for Britain’s Jewry to support orphaned Jewish children rescued from Europe
Overview
This moving charity appeal shows orphaned Jewish children rescued from Eastern Europe since 1945, and urges its audience (primarily Jews living in the UK) to send funds to support the young refugees. Unusually, it opens with three minutes of stills and intertitles before merging into film footage. An extended sequence shows a typical day in the life of the children housed in a boarding school.
The film highlights the work of the London Social Committee, a group of Jewish volunteers devoted to fundraising to continue the postwar rescue efforts. The Chief Rabbi’s Council was one of the main organisations involved in the bureaucratic organisation of the Kindertransport, the pre-war effort that rescued nearly 10,000 Jewish children and re-located them in the UK. Directed by Chief Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz and Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld, it sought to ensure that the rescued children continued to receive an orthodox Jewish upbringing, and were housed with orthodox families.
Related
Simcha Simcha
Documentary 2000 12 mins
Extremely rare insight in the role of a Hasidic woman, featuring a mother-daughter team who live in North London.
Some of My Best Friends Some of My Best Friends
Documentary 1969 30 mins Location: Westminster
Jewish people - and a few Gentiles - muse on what it means to be Jewish in 1960s Britain
Jewish Pensioners' Controversial Pools Win Jewish Pensioners' Controversial Pools Win
News 1975 5 mins Location: Southend-on-Sea
All good pals and jolly good company! A syndicate of Jewish pensioners from Southend celebrate their big win on the football pools.
Just One Kid Just One Kid
Factual TV 1974 54 mins Silent
A Jewish Eastender recalls growing up in poverty in the 1930s and being part of a community now long gone
Mr. Emmanuel Mr. Emmanuel
Drama 1944 97 mins
An elderly Jewish man journeys to Nazi Germany to track down a refugee’s mother in this extraordinary drama
The Barber of Stamford Hill The Barber of Stamford Hill
Drama 1962 61 mins
On the eve of his 50th birthday, lonely north London barber Mr Figg entertains the possibility of marriage
If I Make It To The Morning If I Make It To The Morning
Drama 2024 9 mins
A Chinese teenager dreams of living with her cool aunt in New York, until tensions boil over during a crab dinner.
We’ll Go Down in History We’ll Go Down in History
Documentary 2025 25 mins
Two years in the life of TRUK United FC, a beacon for positive change and trans inclusivity in football.
Wrong Bathroom Wrong Bathroom
Drama 2024 9 mins
A trans high-schooler is tempted by toxic masculinity in the boys’ bathroom.
Dragfox Dragfox
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 8 mins
A child struggling with their identity and a charismatic fox (voiced by Sir Ian McKellen) learn to embrace their differences in this heart warming stop-motion animation.
Wait, Wait, Now! Wait, Wait, Now!
Drama 2024 13 mins
A Maori and a Kiwi teen buddy up to raid their mum’s wardrobe and pucker their lips with red.
NGGAK!!! NGGAK!!!
Drama 2024 8 mins
‘I pronounce you wife and wife.’ A young couple design their perfect wedding online, but then mum dials in.