Lord Alf Dubs
One of the most active of the former Transport children in the documentary is Lord Dubs. He wasn’t saved by Truus Wijsmuller herself, but came on a Transport arranged by Nicolas Winston from his hometown in Prague to England.
He has been a member of the House of Parliament and House of Lords for the Labour Party since 1983. And till this day he is a very strong advocate for anyone who is in a vulnerable position. The last couple of years, he hasn’t stopped fighting for the millions of refugee children from all over the world that are looking for save haven; the same way Lord Dubs himself was looking for one in 1940, finally arriving in England.
Through Lord Dubs’ story we will inevitably jump to the present, coloured by the recent political developments, where – again – so many innocent children are fleeing their war torn countries, only to find doors and borders closing. How can we treat people that leave their beloved hometown, in order to regain a sense of safety like this?
But Lord Dubs’ work forces us to realize that new circles are being broken, doors are being closed, borders are being shut down, people shut out.
And like many times in difficult situations: there are also again people who are trying their best to make (small) changes in the lives of a new generation that finds itself facing exclusion and persecution: children looking for a new form of safety, like Lord Dubs and other ‘children’ were doing before World War II…