Immigrant children: a lesson in compassion from yesteryear

With our nation's current attention on caring for immigrant children, I'd like to highlight a shining example of compassion toward minors during a time far more horrific than our own.

In early November, 1938, the Nazis unleashed their fury on the minority Jewish population of Germany. Synagogues were burned, homes and businesses were looted and destroyed, men and rabbis were dragged from their beds and beaten in the streets. People died and thousands were arrested across the country, sent to prison or 'work camps.' If Jewish Germans had not realized the extent of the threat to their safety before that night, called Kristallnacht or 'Night of Broken Glass,' that night of terror was their wake up call. The following days saw huge lines at emigration offices.

Meanwhile in England, social welfare agencies, some Jewish, some not, scrambled to come up with a plan to help. The prevailing thought was this: in England and in most other nations, immigration laws mandated the emigrating adult to have a job and housing promised upon arrival. Children had no such mandate. So why not allow vulnerable children to leave Germany and live in host homes until their parents could join them?

By early December, the first Kindertransport had been funded through donations, organized and staffed by agency employees and volunteers, and was underway. The Kindertransport was not only legal, it was created by cooperative efforts of the Nazi Party, Parliament, and a number of social welfare agencies and churches. Between December 1938 and September 1939, almost 10,000 children, mostly Jewish, left Germany and occupied countries for resettlement, mostly in the UK and Scandinavia.


The children's parents typically filed to emigrate to the same country as their children, but not many made it before war broke out in September 1939. Then both the borders and the adults' fate were sealed.

History has provided us with this wonderful example of governments and nonprofits working together to protect children. I was honored to interview a former 'Kinder' as I researched The Path Divided, and I will never forget her story. My question is - what are we doing today to protect those who are equally vulnerable?

Man hears of 54 illegal immigrants found in a tractor-trailer, brings them pizza

Watching the news at home in San Antonio, Armando Colunga heard that a tractor-trailer of illegal immigrants had been stopped nearby. He saw video of the 54 detainees sitting on the ground, awaiting their fate. Colunga felt compelled to act. He jumped in his car and drove to the site, unsure of exactly what he wanted to do. 

As he neared the immigrants' location, he saw a Little Caesar's Pizza. It occurred to him that the detainees had been inside that truck for some time and may not have eaten, so he bought seven pizzas. He brought them to the detectives and officers guarding the detainees. They confirmed his fear - the men, women, and teens now sitting outside the truck had been given water but no food. He asked for permission to distribute the pizza, and that permission was granted. 


Colunga learned the detainees are from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Brazil. Of Mexican descent himself, Colunga sympathizes with those who leave Latin America in search of a better life. He told a news affiliate, "If they were black or African people or white people coming from London ... I would have done the same thing," he said. "It's not about race." He also thanked the officers who allowed him to distribute the food. 

The tractor-trailer driver has been charged with human smuggling. 

Bringing a family to safety

Fulbright scholar Rasha Elendari came to the US from Syria seven years ago to study archeology. She planned to return home to Syria to participate in an archeological dig that summer but escalating violence in her homeland made that trip impossible. Missing her family, Elendari stayed in the US to finish her degree, then moved to Toronto for graduate school.

Meanwhile, Syria's war and the Elendari family's situation went from bad to worse. They had stayed in Syria to fight the devastation caused by the Assad regime and provide humanitarian support.

Educated professionals, Elendari's parents, two sisters, and two brothers-in-law volunteered in community programs in their home region in Syria to help war widows and orphans. Two years ago, their own safety and that of their toddler-age children was threatened. They fled to Turkey.

After making contact with the Canadian officials there, the Elendari family was contacted by Jewish Immigration Aid Services (JIAS) of Toronto. JIAS was coordinating the efforts of three Toronto-area sponsors who offered help: Supper with Syria, Temple Har Zion, and Imam Mahdi Islamic Centre. The Temple and the Mosque share a parking lot, and had agreed some time before to sponsor a family's immigration. The Elendari family was the perfect choice for their combined financial and logistical support.

So the plan is in place for the family to arrive from Turkey next week. Details on housing are sketchy, but a job awaits Elendari's pharmacist brother-in-law.

What a great start to the new year - a family reunited in safety.