| Original cation: “These pathetic little figures are child refugees from Rotterdam and vicinity seen as they arrived in London yesterday with their luggage and toys. Suddenly torn from their homes and parents when the Nazis invaded Holland, they will be evacuated to the English countryside where hundreds of thousands of English children are now living. This photograph was flashed from London by cable. These little Dutch children, shown arriving in London to escape the Nazi blitzkrieg just before their country capitulated, are among the hundreds of thousands of innocent victims uprooted by war. Their homes have been destroyed and they have no place to turn save other countries threatened by invasion. They and their counterparts throughout the northern half of Europe make up a refugee problem staggering in its dimensions.” This image of a staged publicity photo opportunity when the Dutch children arrived as part of an evacuation of the Netherlands, which capitulated on May 14, 1940. The last Kindertransport of Jewish children left Rotterdam the same day. The children, and other Dutch nationals, had a harrowing crossing of the English Channel after narrowly escaping Nazi German forces. Dutch nationals, irrespective of religion, were welcomed to the United Kingdom as innocent victims of Nazi aggression but had to register with the police as aliens and in common with all adults in Britain. They were issued with National Identity Cards. The Dutch community in London established the Netherlands Emergency Committee to assist their fellow countrymen. Minister of Mines and Resources Thomas A. Crerar (June 17, 1876 – April 11, 1975) addressed Canadian Parliament about concerns over moving European Children to Canada: “Following the invasion by Germany of Holland, Belgium and, later. France…contrary to the general belief in Canada, there are — or at any rate there were up until a week or ten days ago — only about 2,900 Belgians and 150 Dutch refugee children in Great Britain and of these it was estimated 125 to 150 were unaccompanied by parents. This, of course, does not include those children and adults who had reached Britain prior to, and following, the attack on Poland from Austria, Germany and Poland itself. It was reported to us last February by our immigration officials in London that at that time these totalled less than 10,000, approximately ninety per cent born in Germany the and Austria, about the same percentage being Jewish, most of whom had been absorbed into the normal life of Great Britain.” Arrangements were also made for refugees to be evacuated, mainly to the Netherlands East Indies but in smaller numbers to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Curacao, a Dutch colony, and the United States. Foster parents believed they would take in children, and in some cases, their mothers, for a year. But as the war dragged on, and the threat of invasion of the United Kingdom lessened, foster parents wondered if their charges would return to Europe. Some never returned, and remained in their new countries after the war. When Operation Market-Garden failed in Fall 1944, Netherlanders north of the Rhine experienced starvation during the Winter of 1945. Thousands died, and a 2nd evacuation was arranged. Coventry had over 500 Dutch refugee children by 1945; The Daily Mirror reported that British foster parents were enthusiastic about adopting them, but they were so malnourished that they had to go to hospital for several weeks. They were given memberships in the local cinema. In Scotland in March 1945, camps were opened at Broomlee and Glengonnar for 250 Dutch children to recover from starvation. This photo was circulated internationally, including the United States, in May 1940. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0388.jpg |
| Image Size | 393.87 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1571 x 2048 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 14, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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