1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,520 Speaker 1: Hey, before we get started, we just wanted to let 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: you know we have so many upcoming live shows to 3 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: talk to you about. Yes, on July seven, I will 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: be at History Camp Boston. That's me Tracy, only Holly 5 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: won't be at that one. I will be in the 6 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,639 Speaker 1: History Podcaster panel. And then the next day, July, we 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: will both be doing a live show at Adams National 8 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts. It's an outdoor show. It 9 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: will happen rainer shine, and since parking is limited at 10 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,479 Speaker 1: the park, people are encouraged to take public transportation. That 11 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: is probably how I will be getting there. Also in July, 12 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: we will be back at Convention Days at Women's Rights 13 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: National Historic Park in Seneca Falls, New York. Convention Days 14 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: is running from July twenty, and our show is going 15 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,840 Speaker 1: to be on Saturday July. And then we have big, big, 16 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,239 Speaker 1: big news that we are both very excited about. We 17 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: are going on an actual multi city tour. We're going 18 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,639 Speaker 1: to hit the East coast in August or we will 19 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: be coming to Atlanta, Georgia, Riley, North Carolina, Somerville, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, 20 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: New York, and washing To d C. And then in 21 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: October my favorite spooky time of year. We will be 22 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: coming to the West coast with stops in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, 23 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,839 Speaker 1: and Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. You can find 24 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: more information about all these shows at our website, which 25 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: is Missed in History dot Com. Click on the link 26 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: in the menu that says live shows. Welcome to Stuff 27 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: you missed in History class from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, 28 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 29 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry. It's time for six Impossible Episodes, Everyone's 30 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: favorite time for new listeners. A couple of times a year, 31 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,960 Speaker 1: we put together an episode on six topics that, for 32 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: one reason or another, can't exactly work as well as 33 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: a standalone show. All six of today's topics are examples 34 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: of mass evacuations of children and youth because of war 35 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: or some other unrest, and we've gotten multiple requests for 36 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:06,559 Speaker 1: some of them, including Kinder Transport, Operation pedro Pan and 37 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: Operation Babylift, as well as its tragic plane crash. And 38 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: some of these are big enough stories that they probably 39 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: could stand on their own as their own episode, but 40 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,119 Speaker 1: then that would make it a lot harder to ever 41 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: talk about any of the other ones, and they also 42 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: have a lot of overlap. And one thing that's true 43 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: of all of these evacuations, which are not going to 44 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: repeat every single time, because it is true of all 45 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: of them, is that these children's experiences after being evacuated 46 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 1: were really all over the place. Some of the evacuees 47 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: developed strong and close and loving relationships with their foster 48 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: families and other caregivers, but there were also reports of 49 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: physical and sexual abuse, both in foster homes and in 50 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,839 Speaker 1: group living situations like hostels and camps that were used 51 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: in some of the evacuations. So we're only going to 52 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: be making note of those sorts of issues when there's 53 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 1: something unique with them in a particular of acuation. Otherwise 54 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: it was just an element in all of them. First up, 55 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about kinder transport, and this is 56 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: a name that was coined later in the twentieth century 57 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: to describe a collection of programs to evacuate children from 58 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: Germany and German occupied territory and to take them to 59 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: the United Kingdom. These evacuations took place between nineteen thirty 60 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: eight and nineteen forty, with most of them happening before 61 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: the start of World War Two in Europe in nineteen 62 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: thirty nine. This all started after krystal Nacht, or the 63 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: Night of the Breaking Glass. This was a program that 64 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: took place on November nine, tenth night. When this happened, 65 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: Nazi forces arrested nearly thirty thousand Jewish men and sent 66 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: them to concentration camps. Nazis also murdered at least a 67 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: hundred Jews and destroyed hundreds of synagogues and community buildings. 68 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: Thousands of homes and shops were also destroyed. World leaders 69 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: had been discussing the quote refugee problem in Germany and 70 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: German occupied territory for months of this point. The problem 71 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: was that aid organizations had thousands of applications from people 72 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: seeking refugee status, but most nations were reluctant to let 73 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: them in the horrors of Crystal Knox made the situation worse, 74 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: but it didn't really change the other nation's minds. This 75 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: was also true in the UK, where Jewish and human 76 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: rights organizations had been lobbying extensively for more German Jews 77 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: to be given refugee status. It was really only through 78 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: this continual advocacy that the British government finally changed its mind. Ultimately, 79 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: the British government announced that it would allow children under 80 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: the age of seventeen to enter the country and stay 81 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: under a temporary visa. But the government also stressed that 82 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: idea of temporary the children were intended to be reunited 83 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: with their families after the crisis had passed. Relief organizations 84 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: had to guarantee that until that happened, the children wouldn't 85 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: be a burden on state finances or threaten the British 86 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,919 Speaker 1: job market. The children's parents also were not part of 87 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: the program. The Kinder Transport only evacuated children. To try 88 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: to ensure that these children stay was temporary, a bond 89 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: of fifty pounds had to be posted for each of them, 90 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: and then a wide range of religious and secular groups 91 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: all became part of the effort to raise funds and 92 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: fine temporary homes and arrange of their care. These included 93 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: the Jewish service organization Beni Brith, as well as the 94 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: Society of Friends and the y m c A. Private 95 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: citizens played a big part two by donating funds and 96 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: clothing and offering their own homes as shelter. After a 97 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: radio appeal on November twenty, more than five hundred private 98 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: citizens offered to act as foster parents. Multiple organizations on 99 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: both ends of the journey identified the children who needed 100 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: to be evacuated and then made arrangements to do so. 101 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: In Britain there were the British Committee for the Jews 102 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: of Germany and the Movement for the Care of Children 103 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: and From Germany, which was later known as the Refugee 104 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: Children's Movement. On the continent, there were the Reich Representation 105 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: of Jews in Germany in Berlin and the Jewish Community 106 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: Organization in Vienna. The Reich Association of Jews in Germany 107 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: succeeded the Reich Representation of Jews in Germany in late 108 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine. The first children to be evacuated were 109 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: the ones who were in the greatest danger, so orphans 110 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: whose orphanages had been destroyed, children whose parents had been deported, 111 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: murdered or sent to concentration camps, children whose homes had 112 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: been destroyed. In the programs, the first arrivals were nearly 113 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: two hundred children from an orphanage in Berlin that had 114 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,239 Speaker 1: been destroyed during Krystal Knock. They arrived on December second, 115 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight. As the evacuation went on and a 116 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: lot of the most urgent cases were handled, relief organizations 117 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: started to focus on the children that seemed like they'd 118 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: be able to assimilate well. There was an ongoing fear 119 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: that this influx of child refugees was going to lead 120 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: to an increase in anti Semitism and anti refugee sentiment, 121 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: so as time went on, the focus turned to children 122 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: who seemed bright, tidy, and well behaved, and teenagers who 123 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: had some kind of job or domestic skills that would 124 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: be useful but not overwhelmed the job market. Throughout this evacuation, 125 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: children traveled by train supports in Belgium and the Netherlands, 126 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: where they would cross the English Channel by boat. They 127 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: left from major cities like Berlin, Vienna, and Prague. Children 128 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: who lived outside of the city's traveled to gathering points 129 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: to get onto the trains. A very few children were 130 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: flown directly from Czechoslovakia, and in the very earliest days 131 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: of the evacuation, a few transport left directly from Germany itself. 132 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: By ninety the Kinder Transport had evacuated between nine thousand 133 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: and ten thousand children from Germany and German annexed territory. 134 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: About half of these children stayed with sponsors and foster families. 135 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: Those who didn't initially have sponsors or foster families temporarily 136 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: stated at facilities like summer camps. In some cases, larger 137 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: groups of children lived together in hostels. Those who were 138 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: over the age of fourteen often got some sort of 139 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: job training and then went on to do domestic or 140 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: agricultural work. Apart from the reports of abuse that we 141 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: mentioned at the top of the episode, the conditions that 142 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: these children faced and Britain really varied. Even when it 143 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: came to children who were generally treated with compassion and kindness, 144 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: a lot of the host families just didn't have a 145 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: lot of cultural competence about the religious or social needs 146 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: of Jewish children. Some of the host families also volunteered 147 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: basically so they could get an older child to work 148 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: as a household servant. In nineteen forty, a public panic 149 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: erupted over the idea that a so called fifth column 150 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: of Nazi sympathizers was at work in the UK. In 151 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 1: the wake of this panic, more than one thousand child 152 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,479 Speaker 1: refugees over the age of sixteen were placed in internment 153 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: camps enemy aliens. Some of these children were deported from 154 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: Britain and placed in camps in Australia and Canada. Often 155 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: their conditions at the camps and in transit were appalling. 156 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,199 Speaker 1: Even so, a number of Kinder transportees also known as Kinder, 157 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: joined the British Armed Forces after turning eighteen. Although this 158 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: whole program had started with the idea that the children 159 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: would return to their families after the crisis was over, 160 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: obviously most of the children couldn't. Many of their parents 161 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: were murdered during the Holocaust, and few of the Kinder 162 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: ever saw their families again after the war was over. 163 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: Many eventually became citizens of the United Kingdom or immigrated 164 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: to other countries, including Israel, after it was founded in 165 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: ninety In nineteen eighty nine, the first Kinder Transport Reunion 166 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: was held in London, with Kinder from all over the 167 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: United Kingdom, Israel, Australia and other countries reconnecting with each other. 168 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: The Kinder Transport Association formed after this reunion, and it 169 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 1: has continued to work to reunite Kinder with their host 170 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: families and each other. Today, December two is recognized as 171 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: World Kinder Transport Day. Although the Kinder Transport is generally 172 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: celebrated as a humanitarian effort to protect children, it really 173 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: should be noted that most children weren't protected. The Kinder 174 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: Transport rescued between nine thousand and ten thousand Jewish children, 175 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 1: but nearly two million Jewish children died during the Holocaust. Uh. 176 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 1: We are going to take a quick sponsor break, and 177 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,719 Speaker 1: then after that we will talk about some other evacuation 178 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: efforts in the nineteen thirties and nineteen forties. We're going 179 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: to return to a World War two for a moment 180 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: with what might be the most well known mass evacuation 181 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: of children. It's Operation Pied Piper. This was the evacuation 182 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: of children out of British cities and into the countryside 183 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: during World War Two due to the fear of German 184 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: air strikes. Of the children also went to Canada, South Africa, Australia, 185 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: New Zealand, and the United States, and smaller evacuations after 186 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: the first big one continued until n This evacuation is 187 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: really just part of the public memory in the United Kingdom. 188 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: It is depicted in a lot of literature. That's why 189 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: the children are in that country house with the wardrobe 190 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Operation Pied 191 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: Piper began on September one, ninety nine. That's the day 192 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:33,359 Speaker 1: that Germany invaded Poland, but the order to quote evacuate 193 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: forthwith actually came from the Ministry of Health at about 194 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: eleven am the day before. Following this order, over the 195 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: first four days of September, more than a million people 196 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,199 Speaker 1: were evacuated from Britain's urban areas. The vast majority were children. 197 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: These children traveled by bus and train, and they all 198 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: had tags bearing their names and addresses pen to their clothing. 199 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: About a hundred thousand teachers also worked as guardians during 200 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: transit in this big wave of evacuations. By the end 201 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,959 Speaker 1: of the war, more than three million people had been 202 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: evacuated from areas that were considered to be in danger. 203 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: This was a colossal movement of people, and particularly at 204 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: the destinations, the scene was often chaotic. Although the government 205 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: had ordered the evacuation, local municipalities often didn't get much 206 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: direction beyond handle it as best you can. Sometimes children 207 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: arrived at the wrong destination and local authorities didn't have 208 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: rations or housing ready, or sometimes a town was expecting 209 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: hundreds of children, but received thousands instead. But of today's 210 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: six evacuations, Operation Pied Piper is the one in which 211 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: some of the evacuees described the whole thing is feeling 212 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,319 Speaker 1: like an adventure, at least at the beginning. A lot 213 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,839 Speaker 1: of the children had never left their own neighborhoods before, 214 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: and they looked forward to seeing another place as they 215 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: were evacuated. A lot of them didn't have a clear 216 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: idea of what was really going on or what had 217 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: motivated their journey. They thought they were going on some 218 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: kind of field trip. As adults, many of the evacuees 219 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: talked about not understanding at first why their parents and 220 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: the other grown ups around them were crying, And of 221 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: course a lot of that initial optimism and excitement faded 222 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,119 Speaker 1: due to homesickness and separation from their parents and siblings. 223 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: Some of the children who were evacuated in September of 224 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine returned home again during the Phony War, 225 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: also known as the Sitzkrieg, which lasted from September ninety 226 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: nine until May of nineteen forty. In most cases, the 227 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: children who returned home during these eight months were evacuated 228 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: again after Germany invaded France and the Low Countries. In 229 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,679 Speaker 1: addition to the children who were evacuated out of urban 230 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: areas in Great Britain, which is the more well known story, 231 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: there was also a mass evacuation from Guernsey and the 232 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: Channel Islands. About five thousand children were evacuated with their 233 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: schools in June of nineteen forty and this was the 234 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: start of a major evacuation of everyone on the island, 235 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: although by the time Germany occupied Guernsey at the end 236 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: of June, only half of its population, or about seventeen 237 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 1: thousand people, had been evacuated. Our next evacuation was also 238 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: during the World War two years and it was connected 239 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: to the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland. 240 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll see the Winter War folded into the larger 241 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: arc of World War Two, and it started when Soviet 242 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: leader Joseph Stalin demanded that Finland surrender some of its 243 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: territory to create a buffer around Leningrad, which is now St. Petersburg. 244 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: Finland refused, and after a series of failed negotiations, the 245 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: Red Army invaded on November nineteen thirty nine. Almost immediately 246 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: people started talking about evacuating Finland's children to Sweden to 247 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: try to keep them safe. There were a number of 248 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: women's organizations and other non governmental organizations all working toward 249 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: that same end. On December thirty, nineteen thirty nine, they 250 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: formed the Center for Assistance to Finland to coordinate this 251 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: whole effort. Finlin's Ministry of the Interior spread the word 252 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: that children and the mothers of young children could evacuate 253 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: to Sweden. Of the six evacuations we're talking about today, 254 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: this is the only one that included mothers in any 255 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: kind of larger scale, And at first there wasn't a 256 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: lot of interest, but that changed as the war progressed 257 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: in the situation became more threatening. In the end, children 258 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: and eleven dred adults were evacuated during the winter War. 259 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: They traveled out of Finland by train, plane, and ship. 260 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: Most went to Sweden, although some went to Norway and Denmark. 261 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: The children's parents were expected to contribute to their cost 262 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: of transportation and care. On March third, one of the 263 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: trains that was being used for transport during this evacuation crashed. 264 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: Three nurses, fifteen children, and one pregnant woman died in 265 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: the accident. About twenty people were also injured. The winter 266 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: war ended ten days later. In the evacuees return home, 267 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: although not immediately. Many wanted to wait for the country 268 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: to stabilize before returning. In June of nineteen forty about 269 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: eight hundred evacuees had not come home again. Eight people 270 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: who had evacuated were still out of the country by 271 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: the end of nineteen forty. War returned to Finland in 272 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: nineteen forty one, when Fenland and Nazi Germany fought the 273 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 1: USSR during the Continuation War, and then Fenland was at 274 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: war with Germany from September nineteen forty four to April 275 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five. In these later years, nearly fifty thousand 276 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: finished children between the ages of one and ten were 277 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: once again evacuated into Sweden. There have been several studies 278 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: exploring the idea of whether all these children were really 279 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: better off in their evacuation. By looking at their health 280 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: later in life based on increased incidents of conditions like 281 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: heart disease and diabetes, researchers have concluded that the stress 282 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: of the evacuation may not have outweighed being out of 283 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: the war zone. Yeah have all of these evacuations, Like 284 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: I found a lot of papers that included oral histories 285 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 1: and kind of sociological studies of what the evacuation was like. 286 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 1: And this is the only one that I found a 287 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: big focus on health outcomes later in life and what 288 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,679 Speaker 1: that might say about the stress of the evacuation and 289 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: whether it was ultimately worth it. Yeah, there's not a 290 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: lot of focus on long term health in general, I 291 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: would say, but specifically not from something that happened to 292 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: a group of people when they were very young and 293 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: then tracking them into their adulthood is very rare. Yeah. 294 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,919 Speaker 1: So our last evacuation that took place during the years 295 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: surrounding World War two actually connects to the Spanish Civil War. 296 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: The Spanish Civil War started in nineteen thirty six and 297 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 1: it followed a failed military coup. On one side was 298 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: the Spanish Republican government. On on the other side where 299 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: the Nationalists who had orchestrated the coup. The Nationalists were 300 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: led by General Francisco Franco and they had the support 301 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: of Fascist Italy and Germany. On April seven, seven, German 302 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: and Italian forces, acting at the behest of General Franco, 303 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: bombed the Basque city of Gernica. Gernica was of no 304 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: strategic importance in the war, so most other nations regarded 305 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: this bombing is completely senseless. It also inspired Pablo Picasso's 306 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: painting Gernica, which will also often here pronounce Gernica, which 307 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: is how I learned it from an art teacher. But 308 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: that is one of his most famous works and is 309 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: described as one of the world's most famous anti war paintings. 310 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: That's the one that has like the strange cows and 311 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: the woman holding the child, and it's like a mural 312 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 1: sized painting. I don't haven't done a very good job 313 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: of describing it. Um if you think of of uh, 314 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,919 Speaker 1: if you think of Picasso, that maybe the the image 315 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: that immediately leaps into your mind. So there was an 316 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: immediate call for nations to accept refugees from Gernica, and 317 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,360 Speaker 1: first the British government, as had happened in the Kinder Transport, 318 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: or as would happen in the Kinder Transport, refused, but 319 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: in the face of huge public pressure, the government reluctantly agreed. 320 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: But as would be the case with the Kinder Transport, 321 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: they set very clear expectations for this program. Relief organizations 322 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: that were making all these arrangements had to guarantee that 323 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: they would be solely responsible for these children and all 324 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: costs associated with them for the entire length of their 325 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,439 Speaker 1: stay in the UK. One of the big proponents of 326 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: this plan and allowing these refugees into the UK was 327 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: Eleanor Rathbone, who was the independent MP for the Combined Universities, 328 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,160 Speaker 1: who would also go on to be a big advocate 329 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,479 Speaker 1: for the Kinder transport. About four thousand child refugees arrived 330 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: in the United Kingdom on May twenty ninety seven. They 331 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: mostly stayed at camps near the town of Eastleigh in Hampshire, 332 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: and some stayed in foster homes. After the nationalist side 333 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: won the Spanish Civil War in nineteen thirty nine, line 334 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,199 Speaker 1: and Franco became its head of state, he demanded that 335 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: the children be repatriated to Spain, and although most of 336 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: these evacuees were returned to Spain between two d and 337 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: fifty and four hundred of them were still in the 338 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: UK when World War Two actually started, a few of 339 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: them never returned home. We have two more evacuations that 340 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about after we have another sponsor break. 341 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: Both of those were connected to the Cold War and 342 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: particularly how the United States responded to communism during the 343 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: Cold War. Our next evacuation is Operation Babylift, which was 344 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: carried out by the United States at the end of 345 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: the Vietnam War. So the history of the United States 346 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: involvement in Vietnam is long and complicated. I initially tried 347 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: to explain it, and it was taking the length of 348 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: an entire podcast, So to be extremely brief, the United 349 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: States supported the Republic of Vietnam also known as South Vietnam, 350 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or North Vietnam, which 351 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: was communist. It's obviously a more gigantic story than that, 352 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: but that's the basic for the purposes of setting this up. 353 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: Those are the broad strokes. Uh The United States direct 354 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: military involvement in this war started in nineteen sixty five 355 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,919 Speaker 1: under the administration of Lyndon Johnson, and this involvement was 356 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: incredibly controversial and divisive. By nineteen sixty nine, the Nixon 357 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: administration had implemented a policy known as Vietnamization to try 358 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: to end American involvement in the war. In theory, this 359 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: policy transferred military responsibility from the US to South Vietnam. 360 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: While this did lead to the US pulling the last 361 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 1: troops out of Vietnam in nineteen seventy three, It did 362 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 1: not allow South Vietnam to successfully defend itself. By the 363 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: spring of nineteen seventy five, North Vietnam was headed toward victory, 364 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,680 Speaker 1: with the city of Saigon about to fall. By this point, 365 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,199 Speaker 1: the United States had been evacuating United States citizens and 366 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: not essential personnel from more remote areas to the relative 367 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: safety of Saigon for months. Aircraft from World Airways are 368 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: being used for this purpose, and World Airways President Ed 369 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: Daily also had a daughter, Charlotte, who was working with 370 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,719 Speaker 1: charities in the United States to try to find adoptive 371 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: homes for Vietnamese children. She asked her father to try 372 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: to help find a way to get these children to 373 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,880 Speaker 1: the United States. Daily used his connections with the government 374 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: to try to get authorization to do so, but things 375 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: were not happening quickly enough for his satisfaction. So on 376 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 1: April second, nineteen seventy five, a World Airways d C 377 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: eight cargo plane took off from Saigon. On board were 378 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: fifties three Vietnamese children and twenty two adult attendants. The 379 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: flight had no passenger seats, no flight plan, no formal 380 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 1: clearance and no sanction by the US government or by 381 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: the government of South Vietnam. Airfield staff cut the runway 382 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,440 Speaker 1: lights and unsuccessfully ordered the plane to stop its takeoff, 383 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: but it ultimately made it to its final destination of 384 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 1: Oakland International Airport. The next day, as word of all 385 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: of this spread, President Gerald Ford authorized and announced Operation 386 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,160 Speaker 1: Baby Lift. This would be a mass effort to rescue 387 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: as many South Vietnamese orfens as possible and bring them 388 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: to the United States, where they would be placed with 389 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 1: adoptive families. This also became part of a larger effort 390 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: to transport South Vietnamese refugees out of the country, and 391 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: that greater efforts would start on April seventeenth of nine, 392 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: and the words of Henry Kissinger quote, twenty years of hope, frustration, 393 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: and discord over Vietnam had now been reduced to a 394 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: single objective to save a maximum number of potential Vietnamese 395 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: victims from the consequences of America's abandonment. The first official 396 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: flight in Operation Baby Lift took off on April four nine, 397 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: and it ended in tragedy. The plane was immensely crowded 398 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,119 Speaker 1: with children in both the passenger and cargo areas of 399 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: the plane. In the passenger area, toddlers and young children 400 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,679 Speaker 1: were strapped into to a seat, and in the cargo area, 401 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: babies were on blankets and secured to the floor in groups. 402 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: A crew of nurses and volunteers were on board to 403 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: look after them in flight, but shortly after takeoff from 404 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: Tonstunte air Base, the rear cargo doors blew out because 405 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,679 Speaker 1: of a maintenance problem, thus destroyed the rear of the aircraft, 406 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: and it caused a rapid loss of pressure inside of 407 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: the aircraft. The pilot, who was Captain Dennis Trainer, known 408 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: as Bud, turned around to try to make an emergency 409 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,879 Speaker 1: landing back at the air base, but the plane crashed 410 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,880 Speaker 1: a couple of miles short of the runway. Seventy eight 411 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 1: children and about fifty adults died in this crash. Most 412 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: of the more than one seventy survivors had been in 413 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: the passenger compartment, while many in cargo area were killed. 414 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: The program continued after the crash of that first flight, though, 415 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: and in the end more than two thousand children were 416 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: evacuated from South Vietnam to the United States and a 417 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: few other countries. Around the end of the war. A 418 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,399 Speaker 1: lot of mainstream coverage of Operation Babylift in the United 419 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: States has framed it in a positive humanitarian way, but 420 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: it continues to be surrounded by controversy. There's some debate 421 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,160 Speaker 1: about how many of these children were really orphans. It's 422 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: certain that some of them had living parents who either 423 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: didn't have the means to take care of them because 424 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: the war, or who thought they would be better off 425 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:42,160 Speaker 1: outside of Vietnam. There have also been allegations that American 426 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: personnel took some children off the streets of Saigon without 427 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 1: really knowing what their family situation was, and some of 428 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: the children had been fathered by American military personnel who 429 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: were stationed in Vietnam outside of the context of this evacuation. 430 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:03,199 Speaker 1: Transracial adoption has its own controversies and its own complexities, 431 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,879 Speaker 1: some of which frankly our way outside of our lane. 432 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 1: Some Vietnamese children were adopted into white families who didn't 433 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,880 Speaker 1: necessarily know any other Vietnamese people or know anything about 434 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: Vietnamese culture. Sometimes the adoptive families seemed motivated by a 435 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: desire to sort of demonstrate how generous and patriotic they 436 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: were by adopting one of these Vietnamese children, and as 437 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: the children of Operation Baby Lift have grown into adulthood, 438 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,880 Speaker 1: a lot of them has tried to figure out who 439 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,359 Speaker 1: their families were in Vietnam and tried to reconnect with 440 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: their Vietnamese heritage. On top of all of this, Operation 441 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: Baby Lift was very political. The United States involvement in 442 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: the Vietnam War was incredibly contentious and as we said, divisive, 443 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: and US actions during the war had directly contributed to 444 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: what was happening in South Vietnam at the end of 445 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 1: the war. So Operation Baby Lift was simultaneously a genuinely 446 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: humanity are in effort, a paternalistic attempt to save South Vietnam, 447 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: and an attempt to restore some goodwill and create good 448 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: pr for the United States. The President himself even greeted 449 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: a plane full of orphans in San Francisco on April five, 450 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: where his picture was taken holding babies from the plane. Yeah, 451 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:25,199 Speaker 1: there was just a lot of very positive attempts to 452 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: spend this as look at how we are rescuing our 453 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: allies in South Vietnam, just sort of leaving off the 454 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: part of having largely made the problem in the first place. Also, 455 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: this controversy is not news. It's not something people have 456 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: just started talking about in the last five years. A 457 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: number of lawsuits were filed in the wake of Operation 458 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,880 Speaker 1: Babylifts soon after it happened. Because included a class action 459 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: lawsuit contending that it was unconstitutional and in violation of 460 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 1: international treaties. There were also lawsuits against Lockheed Mark that 461 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 1: stemmed from the crash of that first Baby Lift flight. 462 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 1: By the end of April, ninety people had been evacuated 463 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 1: from Saigon, including about three thousand babies and young children 464 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: in Operation Baby Lift, and about two thousand of these 465 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: children were adopted in the United States, about one thousand 466 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: were adopted in Canada, Australia and in the u S 467 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: allies in Europe, and as was the case with Kinder Transport, 468 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: I mean people talk about how many people were evacuated, 469 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: but many, many more people were left behind at the 470 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,000 Speaker 1: end of the war. Our last mass evacuation in today's 471 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: episode is Operation Pedro Pan sometimes called Operation Peter Pan, 472 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: and this was a mass evacuation of unaccompanied miners from 473 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power following the Cuban 474 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 1: Revolution in nineteen fifty nine, making Cuba, the first communist 475 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: state in the Western Hemisphere. At first, Operation pedro Pan 476 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: was a program to allow and even in courage, people 477 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: who were fighting against the Castro regime to send their 478 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: children to the United States. The idea was that they'd 479 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: be able to focus on the resistance without having to 480 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: care for their children or to worry about their children's safety. 481 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: The children came into the United States on student pieces, 482 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: which were issued from the US Embassy in Havana, but 483 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,959 Speaker 1: the United States cunt diplomatic ties with Cuba and closed 484 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: the embassy in Havana on January third, nineteen sixty one, 485 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: and at this point Operation pedro Pan began to broaden 486 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: to include anyone who wanted to send their children out 487 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: of Cuba. People did this for a lot of different reasons. 488 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: Some people really were counter revolutionaries who were fighting against 489 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: the Castro regime and were worried that their own activities 490 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: could endanger their children. Catholic families were also becoming concerned 491 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 1: for their religious freedoms as Castro began nationalizing Catholic schools 492 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: and expelling Catholic clergy from Cuba. Some parents worried that 493 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 1: the Castro regime was going to end parents legal authority 494 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: over their children, or that their children were going to 495 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: be indoctrinated. The United States, especially when it came to 496 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: these last too, definitely helped spread these fears through media 497 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: and propaganda. After closing the embassy in Havannah, the United 498 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: States State Department worked with the Catholic Welfare Bureau to 499 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: continue these evacuations. The State Department gave monsenor Brian Walsh 500 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: the authority to sign visa waivers for Cuban children under 501 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: the age of sixteen. This visa waiver would allow them 502 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: to fly from Havana to Miami. PanAm flew to direct 503 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: flights today, and these planes became increasingly filled with unaccompanied miners. 504 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: Between nineteen sixty and nineteen sixty two, fourteen thousand unaccompanied 505 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: miners flew from cubit to Miami. About half of them 506 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 1: were met at the airport by friends or relatives, maybe 507 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:56,239 Speaker 1: not close relatives, but someone they at least were related to. 508 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: The rest of them were placed with foss their families, 509 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: or were housed in hostels or other group living situations. 510 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,440 Speaker 1: Most of these children were from the Cuban middle and 511 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: lower class, because wealthy Cubans who had wanted to leave 512 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: the country had already done so before this program really started. 513 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: This whole situation was supposed to be temporary. The idea 514 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: was that the US and counter revolutionaries in Cuba would 515 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: overthrow Fidel Castro and then the children would return home 516 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: to their families, but that is not what happened. Not 517 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: only did Castro stay in power, but children were only 518 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: reunited with their families if their families left Cuba as well. 519 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: The United States also stopped all commercial flights between the 520 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 1: United States and Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 521 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two. That ban on flights stayed in place 522 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: for three years, and during that time, the only way 523 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: for these children to be reunited with their parents was 524 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: if their parents made the dangerous crossing from Cuba to 525 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: Florida by boat. After commercial flights resumed in nineteen sixty five, 526 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: freedom flights began taking off from Havana to carry refugees 527 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: to the United States. The first of these left Havannah 528 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: on December one, nineteen, and this is really when the 529 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: evacuated children, known as pedro Punnis, resumed being reunited with 530 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: their families. But this had its own level of difficulty. 531 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: Some of the pedro Panas who did not already have 532 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: friends or family in the US had been sent to 533 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: foster homes far away from Miami, and that's where their 534 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 1: parents had to go, sometimes moving to a place where 535 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: there were few, if any other Cubans because that's where 536 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: their children had been placed. Yeah, when we say far 537 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: away from Miami, we don't mean like Orlando. Yeah, we 538 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: mean like Minnesota, like really and and in in some 539 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 1: cases there was just no Cuban community. They're not really 540 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 1: a lot of resources. As it was going on, Operation 541 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: Pedro pan was not really publicized. The State Department and 542 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: the Catholic Welfare Bureau really tried to keep it out 543 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: of the press as much as possible. But at the 544 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: same time, once it did make the news, it was, 545 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 1: as with the case of Operation Babylift, very politicized. For example, 546 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: the Miami Harold ran a headline quote, eight thousand Cuban 547 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: children saved from Communist brainwashing. Today, this is regarded very 548 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 1: differently in Cuba versus in the United States. In Cuba, 549 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: especially while Fidel Castro was still in power, it was 550 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: viewed as a nefarious and coordinated CIA effort to destroy 551 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: Cuban families. Stories of pedro Panas experiences with racism, abuse, 552 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: and homesickness became part of anti American propaganda, but in 553 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 1: Cuban American cultural memory, it has more often been seen 554 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:53,520 Speaker 1: as a necessary flight from the castro regime that came 555 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: with some hardships but still allowed children and their families 556 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 1: to escape. Yes, some of that reception has become a 557 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: little more nuanced. Similarly with Operation Babylift, whereas the children 558 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: who had been evacuated grew up, they started telling their 559 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: own stories more and some of that has happened with 560 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 1: Operation Pedro pan as well. And we said earlier that 561 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: this operation was meant to be temporary. For most of 562 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:23,239 Speaker 1: the pedro Pans. The separation from their families was temporary. 563 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: Most of them were reunited with at least some family members, 564 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 1: although in a lot of cases it took years for 565 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: that reunion to happen. But overwhelmingly their state in the 566 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: United States was not temporary. Most pedro Panas have never 567 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,440 Speaker 1: returned to Cuba, and at various points it's been illegal 568 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 1: for them to do so. On November two, nineteen sixty six, 569 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,239 Speaker 1: President Lyndon Johnson signed the Cuban Adjustment Act, which set 570 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: up a process for these and other Cuban refugees to 571 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 1: become permanent residents of the United States. Operation pedro Pan 572 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 1: made news again in in both Cube and the United 573 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 1: States during the Alien Gonzalez controversy. Gonzalez's mother had fled 574 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 1: Cuba with him, and she had died in a shipwreck, 575 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,799 Speaker 1: and this led to an enormous international custody dispute, with 576 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: images of Operation pedro Pan again heavily politicized being used 577 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 1: by both sides. Federal agents took Alien Gonzalez at gunpoint 578 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 1: on April twenty two, two thousand, and returned him to Cuba, 579 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: something that was seen as an outrage among most Cuban 580 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:33,879 Speaker 1: Americans and a victory among most Cubans in Cuba. I 581 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,960 Speaker 1: was of all of these evacuations. I was astounded to 582 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 1: learn about fourteen thousand unaccount unaccompanied miners. I will tell 583 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:43,200 Speaker 1: you a funny thing, which is that when you first 584 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 1: just kind of said that number to me, that phrase 585 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: with no context. In my head, I envisioned fourteen thousand 586 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:55,239 Speaker 1: children flying a plane by themselves, like I completely like 587 00:35:55,560 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 1: made a really completely inappropriate cartoon version um and then 588 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 1: I was like, oh, no, they were on regular transport. 589 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: They were just they didn't have any adults with them. 590 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,759 Speaker 1: I see, I see, I see, so yeah yeah, so 591 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:13,720 Speaker 1: yeah those are Those are six evacuations of children, all 592 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,839 Speaker 1: of them having some elements in common, but especially those 593 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:23,160 Speaker 1: last two having sort of a dramatically different political use 594 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 1: almost in terms of propaganda and pr I also have 595 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:32,240 Speaker 1: some listener mail that sounds grand. This is from Lauren 596 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 1: Laurence says, Hi, Tracy, and Holly. I work at the 597 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,040 Speaker 1: Minnesota Historical Society, which manages historic Fort Snelling, and I 598 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 1: was so excited when I listened to your episode on 599 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,800 Speaker 1: the NISSA in World War Two and heard you talking 600 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,960 Speaker 1: about the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Minnesota. There's 601 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 1: a piece of Minnesota history I didn't know about, and 602 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,640 Speaker 1: still until I started working at m n h S. 603 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: Here are a few more details about the m I 604 00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: S l S is time in Minnesota that I find 605 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,839 Speaker 1: super fascinating. One when the school had to leave California 606 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,720 Speaker 1: after Executive Order six, the Army tried to find somewhere 607 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 1: to move, but several states completely refused to accept the 608 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,680 Speaker 1: school in their borders. So Minnesota was unique for saying yes, 609 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:18,720 Speaker 1: and being fairly welcoming to these students. To the school's 610 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:22,759 Speaker 1: time in Minnesota actually significantly changed the population demographics of 611 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:26,000 Speaker 1: our state. In the nineteen forty census, only about fifty 612 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,879 Speaker 1: people of Japanese descent lived in the state, and by 613 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty, over a thousand people lived here. After their deployments, 614 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,360 Speaker 1: many of the former m I s l S students 615 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: remembered their experiences training in Minnesota and decided it would 616 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,320 Speaker 1: be a great place to live. And today at m 617 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,040 Speaker 1: NHS we do a lot of work with the Twin 618 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,719 Speaker 1: Cities Japanese American Citizen League, mostly with descendants, but there 619 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,399 Speaker 1: are a few m I SLS trained World War Two 620 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:52,960 Speaker 1: vets who are still alive. To make sure this history 621 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: keeps being told. We're also always working to better document 622 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,880 Speaker 1: this history in our collection because it's not as robust 623 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,880 Speaker 1: as we'd like. And then she uh talks about working 624 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,839 Speaker 1: with us and and finding some new photos of students, 625 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: and she sent a link to a press release that 626 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,040 Speaker 1: had some stories about these students and how they wound 627 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 1: up training in Minnesota, and she says to please let 628 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,840 Speaker 1: her know if we ever need any Minnesota history ideas. 629 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,160 Speaker 1: Thank you, so much Lauren for sending that UM. One 630 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:27,799 Speaker 1: of the articles UM that I found as I was 631 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: doing the research on this was really all about how 632 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:37,839 Speaker 1: the Military Intelligence Service had been UH viewed in Minnesota 633 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,520 Speaker 1: and how it like how that had worked within the community, 634 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 1: and it just was not one of the things that 635 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:43,719 Speaker 1: we had time to deeply get into in the episode. 636 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:46,320 Speaker 1: So thank you so much for sharing that. If you 637 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,320 Speaker 1: would like to write to us. Were a history podcast 638 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 1: at how Stuffworks dot com, and there were also all 639 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,560 Speaker 1: over social media at missed in history dot com, and 640 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:55,960 Speaker 1: that is our Facebook and our Twitter, in our Instagram 641 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: and our Pinterest. You can come to our website, which 642 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,799 Speaker 1: is missing a Street dot com and find show notes 643 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 1: for all the episodes that Holly and I have ever 644 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: worked on. That includes links to all the sources that 645 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:10,040 Speaker 1: we use. There's also a searchable archive of every episode ever, 646 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,959 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, 647 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:22,000 Speaker 1: Google Play, and wherever else do you find podcasts. For 648 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,600 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how 649 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:31,600 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com.