One Thousand Children

The One Thousand Children (OTC) is a designation, created in 2000, and is used to refer to approximately 1,400 Jewish children who were rescued from Nazi Germany and other Nazi-occupied or threatened European countries, who were taken directly to the United States, during the period 1934-1945. They were rescued by both American and European organizations as well as by individuals. The phrase "One Thousand Children" (OTC) refers to those children who came unaccompanied as they left their parents behind back in Europe. In nearly all cases, their parents were not able to escape with their children, because they could not get the necessary visas among other reasons. Later, nearly all these parents were murdered by the Nazis. (Originally only about one thousand such children had been identified as OTC children — hence the name "The One Thousand Children") (OTC).

The One Thousand Children, Inc. (OTC, Inc.) was an organization created for further welfare of the OTC children. For details see the sections below.

Two very important source-references are the OTC web-pages www.onethousandchildren.yivo.org, and the OTC archival book Don't Wave Goodbye. The latter most importantly contains many individual stories written by OTC'ers, some even as journals written at the time of their OTC experiences; and much factual information.

Some 1.5 million children perished in the Holocaust (see Children in the Holocaust), yet millions of children did survive.

Only a few children were saved by the efforts of programs, groups, individuals, or actual parents. In western Europe these would include the kindertransport program which included the individual efforts of Sir Nicholas Winton, and the work of Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE). Most of the programs that worked specifically to save children, had the children remain within Western Europe or moved to Palestine.

In the One Thousand Children program, approximately 1,400 children were successfully rescued and brought to the United States, in contrast to the efforts made within Europe. In general, they were bought in quiet operations designed to avoid attention from isolationist and other antisemitic forces. (Originally 1,177 such children had been identified as OTC children — hence the name "The One Thousand Children") (OTC). These children:

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