Gathering the Remnants examines the extraordinary efforts of Evelyn Chenkin (nee Freedman) to locate and retrieve Jewish hidden children in post-war France.
In 1946, 22 year old Evelyn Chenkin (nee Freedman) crossed the English Channel 26 times entering France clandestinely to find and retrieve 60 Jewish hidden children. These children, like many other Jewish children, had been placed in convents or with Catholic families for safekeeping during World War Two but were now being refused return to their family or to the Jewish organisations that had placed them there.
After the war Jewish refugee organisations began searching for the hidden children now orphaned by the Holocaust. Many of the ‘foster’ families and convents were reluctant to return the children. All had risked their lives in taking in these Jewish children and some had formed strong bonds with them. After the war, many returned the children to their families or Jewish organisations despite the difficulty in letting go. Some however refused to return the children in their care. These are some of the children that Evelyn was sent to retrieve.
