The BBC has issued an apology after an episode of The Repair Shop aired on 26 December, which discussed the Kindertransport at length without mentioning that it was a rescue operation for Jewish children fleeing Nazi persecution. Critics say the omission erased the Jewish identity of those targeted by the Nazis and distorted a central historical fact, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The episode featured Dame Helen Mirren bringing a damaged cello to be restored. The instrument had belonged to her late friend, theatre producer Martin Landau, and was broken by Nazi guards when he fled Germany for Britain on the Kindertransport at the age of 14. The programme spent around 15 minutes recounting the history of the cello and Landau’s escape from Nazi Germany.
However, despite repeatedly referring to the Kindertransport, the episode did not state that Landau was Jewish or that Jewish identity was the reason he was forced to flee. The omission drew criticism from Jewish organisations and historians, who said it removed essential context from a story rooted in antisemitic persecution.
The Kindertransport was a rescue operation that saved approximately 10,000 children between 1938 and 1939, the majority of whom were Jewish. The children were sent from Nazi-controlled Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia to countries including Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Their relocation was organised by Jewish and non-Jewish aid groups, including the Central British Fund for German Jewry, the Movement for the Care of Children from Germany, the Society of Friends, and the Polish Jewish Refugee Fund.
The Jewish Chronicle reported that the word “Jewish” appeared to have been removed from the start of a sentence spoken by Mirren, which aired as: “…children were put on the Kindertransport.” Critics said this editing choice further obscured the antisemitic nature of the historical events being described.
Following public criticism, the BBC added a clarification to the episode’s iPlayer page, stating: “The Kindertransport was the organised evacuation of approximately 10,000 children, the majority of whom were Jewish, from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.” However, as of Monday, the BBC’s media centre article about the episode still did not include the words “Jew” or “Jewish,” describing Landau only as someone who fled Germany on the Kindertransport after his cello was broken by the Nazis.
Jewish commentators argue that failing to identify Jews as the primary victims of Nazi persecution contributes to historical distortion and weakens public understanding of antisemitism, particularly when such omissions occur in widely viewed public broadcasting.
photo credit: Screenshot from BBC video
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