It is very timely that National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport is published at this present moment, during a global refugee crisis, and amid renewed and polarized conversations about immigration, nationalism and the role of Western nations. The experience of the Kindertransport has particular salience in a world where 117 million people are currently displaced and seeking refuge, and memory of the programme is often instrumental in these debates, on either side—as Tony Kushner argues “The Kindertransport has become the most remembered refugee movement in Britain. Indeed, it is the only one that is now recalled with any intensity” (“Truly, madly, deeply…nostalgically? Britain’s on–off love affair with refugees, past and present,” Patterns of Prejudice 52, no.2–3 [2018]: 172–194.) It is into this intensity that National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport dives.

National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport is the first major work of its kind that explores memory of the Kindertransport, and that works to develop a comparative analysis that explores how the programme is remembered in Anglophone countries and in Germany. As its source, National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport looks specifically at the “genres” of memorials, exhibitions, and other commemorations, and how they construct cultures of memory in different national contexts. It is impressive, in this focus, how often National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport is able to explore the smaller memorials organized by singular activists or survivors, such as those produced by Ella Dreyfuss, or the “memory quilt” produced by Anita and Kirsten Grosz. This is alongside analysis of larger, state-sponsored official memorials within major museums, such as the UK’s Imperial War Museum. This both develops the scope of the book and enables it to develop an argument around the diverse “memory-agents” (9) involved in the production of memory-cultures, demonstrating that these discourses are in tension within national contexts. It also brings to the attention of scholars exhibitions, memorials, and commemorations which may not be widely known outside of their specific regional or national context, adding to the considerable contribution Niven and Williams make to our understanding of the memory of the Kindertransport. For a scholar interested in Holocaust memory, this is a wide-ranging survey of diverse materials which can problematize our thinking about national and individual narratives. At times, however, this focus on memorials, exhibitions, and commemorations can seem limiting, as there are many other means by which national memories of the Kindertransport are constructed, such as in school curricula or the wider media landscape, which may be more or less significant in a given context than an exhibition or memorial which only a small minority of a country’s citizens may ever see.

It is highly commendable that Niven and Williams adopt a transnational approach, enabling rich reflections on the differences and similarities across diverse memory-cultures, and moving scholarship of Kindertransport memory forward from a current, potentially limiting, focus on Britain. In engaging with countries like New Zealand or Australia, that bring scholarly attention to regions which are often absent from conversations about Holocaust memory in general and the Kindertransport in particular. In undertaking this transnational approach, Niven and Williams argue persuasively that the memory of the Kindertransport is increasingly characterized by transnational networks and an increasingly “cosmopolitan” memory of the Holocaust, drawing on the transnational experiences of the Kinder themselves who often emigrated to a diversity of countries after their life in Britain. Throughout the book, Niven and Williams chart examples of “memory-agents” working across national borders to develop cultures of memory.

National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport is organized nation-by-nation, covering exhibitions, memorials and commemorations, followed by a conclusion that discusses the particular culture of memory in that national context. While there are chapters devoted to Britain, the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Germany, there is also a brief exploration of Russia and Israel in the conclusion of the book. At times, the structure can impede the work which National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport seeks to undertake and can give way to passages of description of the memorials and exhibitions in question. While this is arguably necessary, the sheer number can limit the ability to synthesize this diverse picture into a coherent national narrative, and to develop a comparative approach which considers why and how memory-cultures are different across national contexts. Additionally, it can imply that comparatively small or marginal exhibitions are equally important to Kindertransport memory in a country, when others, such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, may see visitor numbers in the millions.

National and Transnational Memories of the Kindertransport is a necessary examination of the complexities of memory in a time when that memory is increasingly contentious. Niven and William’s work is a considerable contribution to the study of Kindertransport memory, which critically grapples with the narrativizing work of the exhibitions, memorials, and commemorations that are its subject, beginning to develop a picture of how this increasingly transnational memory is created. The survey elements would be particularly useful for scholars of Holocaust memory, and the analysis of memorials and exhibitions of particular interest to scholars of museum studies.