Surprisingly cheerful, for a documentary about German Jews in the late 1930s

[pktechgirlbackup]

I'm watching Into the Arms of Strangers, which is about the Kindertransport: a network that allowed Jewish parents in Nazi Germany to send their children to live with foster families in England (this was before the war, when Germany was actively encouraging Jews to emigrate). And all I can think is: the only choice these parents got to make was kids alive/not alive. They had no control of even knowledge of the families their children went to. Forget choosing between concerted cultivation and natural growth, they sent their children away knowing they could be neglected, or used as servants, or molested, and that it was still better than staying with them in Germany. This is parenting at its core: keeping your kids not dead.

Comments

[scythe-of-time.livejournal.com]

A-yup. Making sure your kid lives and/or is provided for at all costs is kind of the baseline of parenting.

Somewhat related: I can watch Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Minds et al all night long without flinching, but the second they show a child molester or a kid who dies/suffers abuse, the TV goes off. I just cannot stomach that shit anymore - even when it's fictional.