Customer Reviews

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000 Film)

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I originally bought this CD because it has all three verses of a German children's song called "Alle Voegel sind schon da" (All the Birds Are Here") that I wanted to teach to a German language class. An Amazon search by song title turned up this album. The sample excerpt sounded nice and the pronunciation was clear -- so I bought it. I had no idea what the rest of the album would be like, because I had not seen the documentary. Was I in for a pleasant surprise!

In addition to "Alle Voegel," there are several other German children's songs, as well as a happy little medley of Polish songs that I particularly like. I can't understand a word of Polish, but I enjoy the sound of their music. There are also several original orchestral pieces composed and conducted by Lee Holdridge. Some of these are pretty sombre pieces (""Gathering Darkness" and "Last Good-byes") that make for heavy listening, while others express the joy of homecoming ("Celebration" and "A Place to Belong.") All of it is fine music.

One the technical end, the CD comes with liner notes that include translations of all the songs, as well as some interesting background material by producer Deborah Oppenheimer, composer Lee Holdridge, and sound designer Gary Rydstrom.

This CD is the soundtrack for the documentary film Into the Arms of Strangers, Stories of the Kindertransport. During World War II Jewish children were taken out of Germany to other countries for safety, many never saw their families again.

The film has interviews with some of them, photos of the transport, some family photos, and this music which stayed with me.

It is unusual and not for everyone-- German children singing innocently happy songs, and later some that seem to be happy but put in the context of what was going on, quite sad.