BBC Apologizes After Kindertransport Episode Omits Any Mention of Jews
The BBC has acknowledged errors in a recent broadcast after criticism erupted over the way it portrayed the Kindertransport, following a December 26 episode of its program The Repair Shop that failed to mention the Jewish identity of the children rescued in the operation or of the episode’s central figure.
The controversy stems from a segment focused on a damaged 19th-century cello once owned by theater producer Martin Landau, who escaped Nazi Germany for Britain at the age of 14 aboard a Kindertransport train. Nazi guards had smashed the instrument shortly before his departure, leaving it broken for decades until it was brought to the show for restoration.
Although the program devoted a substantial portion of the episode to the cello’s backstory and the wider historical setting of the Kindertransport, it never stated that Landau was Jewish or that the rescue effort was primarily designed to save Jewish children from Nazi persecution. The Kindertransport historically facilitated the evacuation of roughly 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia between 1938 and 1939, with assistance from Jewish and humanitarian groups.
During the episode, British actress Helen Mirren introduced the cello to the restoration team. Luthier Becky Houghton carried out the repair, and the restored instrument was later played on screen by Jewish cellist Raphael Wallfisch. Despite these elements, viewers noted the absence of any explicit reference to the Jewish nature of the rescue operation.
According to The Jewish Chronicle, the word “Jew” was allegedly cut during editing from a line spoken by Mirren, which aired as, “…children were sent by the Kindertransport,” without further clarification.
After public criticism, the BBC added a correction to the episode’s iPlayer page, stating that “the Kindertransport was the organized evacuation of approximately 10,000 children, the majority of whom were Jewish.” Even so, as of early this week, the episode’s description on the broadcaster’s official website still did not mention Landau’s Jewish background or the Jewish focus of the Kindertransport.
This episode is the latest in a series of controversies involving the BBC. The broadcaster has drawn repeated criticism in recent years over what critics describe as anti-Israel bias, a charge that intensified following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
In November 2023, the BBC issued an apology after incorrectly reporting that Israeli forces were deliberately targeting medical teams near the Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Earlier, the network wrongly suggested Israel was responsible for a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital, later conceding that “it was false to speculate” after evidence showed the blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket.
The corporation also faced scrutiny last year for featuring the son of a senior Hamas official as the narrator of its documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. In response to the backlash, the BBC admitted there were “serious flaws” in the program.
Most recently, the broadcaster announced that all staff will be required to undergo mandatory anti-discrimination training, starting with modules addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia.
{Matzav.com}
