Kindertransport Analysis

Kindertransport by Diane Samuels is about the harrowing journey that some young children had to take in order to flee persecution during the Holocaust. It was an organised rescue effort that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. I believe Samuels wrote this play about the Holocaust because no lives should go unforgotten, as we should respect and honour those who were killed, but also raise awareness of those few survivors left, so no history repeats itself. It was such a traumatic time for those who lived through it and throughout the play we learn not only what happened to young children and their families, but also the true meaning of relationships and how they can change when really put to the test.
Samuels uses German to make the audience empathise with Eva. When she first moved to England, Eva’s German habits and Jewish religion were still a part of her. Near the beginning of the play, where she meets Lil, Eva says: ‘I not eat ham. It from pig.’ Her confused grammar indicates Eva’s unfamiliarity with English at the start of the play, which helps show clearly that she is not from England and finds it hard to understand. At the beginning of her stay with Lil, Eva was reluctant to become independent and relied on Lil throughout, as she was still afraid she would never see her mother again. But, gradually Eva assimilates to the English culture and her life became more and more like Lil’s, so Eva’s German Jewish side began to fade. Eva then made a new life with Lil and changed her name to Evelyn to start afresh. Despite this, she couldn’t get away from the fact she was German, and therefore she sees herself as threat to the English. Helga forced Eva to go to England at the age of nine to save her, Helga says: ‘try to meet other Jews in England.’ This shows Helga was trying to reassure Eva she won’t be alone and want to give her hope for her new life in England. Also, Helga is not certain she will return to England, so she makes sure she keeps with her ethnic group and tries to teach Eva to be independent. The connotations of ‘other Jews’ is for security towards Eva and tradition. It would have been hard for Helga to send her only child away, especially as Eva never got to fully understand why. Each time Evelyn and Faith argue, Evelyn gets flash backs of the ‘Ratcatcher’ or thinks back to her past. The unsettled feeling of arguing with her daughter haunts her, as she has the fear that her life will go back to how it used to be. After an argument between Faith and Evelyn, Eva