After the pogroms against Jews in Germany and Austria in November 1938 , the British parliament voted to allow Jewish children under the age of 17 to enter Great Britain. However, the children required a sponsor to guarantee funds for their care. A large number of individuals or communities assumed this responsibility. The operation was known as the Kindertransport. It enabled around 10,000 unaccompanied children to emigrate to Britain between December 1938 and September 1939. Many of them never saw their parents again.