Synopsis

“Rescue Train” is a 54-minute documentary that originally aired on Israel Television Channel 2’s “Reshet,” network, to a rating of 17.7, compared to two closest competitors, Channel 10 with a 9 rating, and Channel 1 with a 4 rating. Over 1 million viewers, out of a population of 8 million citizens, watched this documentary. This is the story of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust because they were hidden by their parents in Christian homes and institutions. Most of the children became orphans when their parents perished at the hand of the Nazis. Relatives of these children turned to chief rabbi of mandate Palestine, Rabbi Dr. Yizchak Herzog to ‘redeem’ these children and bring them back into the Jewish community, to be raised as Jews as their parents would have wanted. In 1946 Rabbi Herzog organized a network to risk their lives finding and bringing these children out of war-torn Poland. The film makes poignant reference to the issues of identity, religion and love, at the same time raising universal questions inherent in adoption and/or foster family situations.