The Holocaust and Children

 Though all Jews were targeted for death, children suffered at an especially high mortality rate. Ghetto residents regularly sent pregnant women and children on transports to Auschwitz so that the gas chambers could take effect.

German forces and their collaborators killed nearly 1.5 million Jewish children, as well as many more Romani (Gypsy), disabled, institutionalized children and Polish ones.

Children in Ghettos

Children living in ghettos experienced immense physical and psychological strain. Malnutrition, disease and starvation often plagued them. Their lives were dictated by discriminatory laws designed to exclude them from civic and economic life in their towns and cities; additionally they had to wear an identification mark known as a Star of David that made them identifiable to Nazi authorities.

As a result of Nazi rule and war, children were forced to grow up faster than expected. Surviving Holocaust survivors must live with its aftereffects for life, known in Hebrew as Shoah or Catastrophe.

Ghettos were typically situated in poor, overpopulated parts of towns and were typically enclosed with walls and barbed wire, providing limited sanitation, water, food and shelter services to their inhabitants. Many would eventually perish from hunger, disease and deportations to extermination camps.

Jewish councils (Judenrats) in ghettos attempted to make life bearable for their people while fulfilling Nazi orders to select transports for extermination camps - children were often chosen first because they were considered unproductive or "useless eaters."

Willi Georg's photographs of Krakow's Ghetto from 1941 to 1944 reveal its inhabitants' resilience despite imminent disaster, showing children smuggling food and medicine into it, celebrating holidays, as well as hopes of going home or even travelling to Palestine. Additionally, some factories connected these ghettos to outside life via tram lines.

Children in Camps

Children held captive in Nazi concentration camps experienced horrific treatment and often were separated from their families, being sent directly to gas chambers in some instances (for infants, young children and those with disabilities); others were kept back for medical experimentation or medical testing purposes. Furthermore, these children were subjected to unimaginable physical and emotional torture, exposed to dehumanizing practices of Nazi eugenics such as not receiving sufficient sleep, food or basic sanitation facilities; having no toys or games available for playtime; receiving medical tests or injections and often forced labor force them against each other in many instances.

At concentration camps, most children were killed but some managed to survive. When this occurred they would often be sent to family camps that included some form of schooling for older children - thus increasing their chance of survival and sparing them from some of Auschwitz's most horrific medical experiments, though many children still perished from hunger, cold and disease.

Children who survived the Holocaust went on to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives after leaving it behind, marrying, having children, holding jobs and careers - while always carrying a special historical burden with them. Yet their experiences as Holocaust children are often overlooked when studying survivorship from that period.

One way of correcting historical injustice is through an expanded understanding of Jewish children's experiences and struggles during wartime - this topic being tackled by two new books written by scholars George Eisen and Barbara Rogasky.

Their works, Children and Play in the Holocaust and Smoke and Ashes, attempt to fill this void. Eisen's book explores children's universal need to comprehend their world, even in deadly environments like ghettos or camps; while Rogasky's seeks to ensure child survivors' needs become part of our collective memory.

Children living in the ghettos were forced to keep as normal a life as possible, attempting to eat, play and study in poor conditions while still making time to save lives of Jewish neighbors by smuggling out food for families in hiding and some risking their own lives to save others - often at great personal sacrifice - while survivors like Regina and Dina Gartenlaub who were hidden by French rescuer Odette Cheverry became recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among Nations.

Children in Hiding

In order to survive, thousands of Jewish children went into hiding. Some lived with foster families; others entered monasteries or convents; still others found refuge in attics or cellars. For those unable to pass as non-Jews, life in hiding was fraught with danger - one careless remark or whisper from inquisitive neighbors could lead to their discovery and ultimate death; those enduring such silence suffered extreme isolation as well as physical discomfort while living silently in tight quarters.

Many children who went into hiding during the Holocaust never saw their parents again, leading to traumatizing loss and fear for their wellbeing that would echo throughout their lives.

Children hiding had to adapt quickly in the face of such persecution, acting more or less like adults themselves. They remained quiet, avoided situations that might reveal their true identities, and refrained from using any behaviors or phrases which might indicate Jewishness. Although their strategy proved mostly successful, mistreatment or abuse by "protectors" often occurred; additionally, being hidden could be particularly traumatic for young ones who could not fully grasp what had transpired with their families and siblings.

After World War II, many Holocaust survivor children were sent to special rehabilitative homes run by youth movements and childcare organizations across Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany and France in order to reconnect them to their Jewish roots and culture while providing love and stability as they awaited immigration to Eretz Israel.

Psychologists tend to avoid making generalizations about people whose experiences vary so widely, yet there was one universal thread - the struggle against lost childhoods. Even those not forced into ghettos or camps experienced extreme hardship; those not adopted often faced rejection by society members and were often treated like second-class citizens; others may even be forced into work as slaves or used in medical experiments as human guinea pigs.

Children in Resistance

Due to Nazi rule and war's brutalities, children had no choice but to mature beyond their years. Jewish boys and girls in ghettos and camps found creative ways of adapting to their abnormal circumstances - from making up games on their own through to taking advantage of scant educational opportunities available to them to working hard to sustain themselves through their labor despite living under constant fear of discovery by Nazi officials or authorities; each moment could bring death.

Children were among the bravest heroes during World War II, often helping other children escape. Janusz Korczak, for instance, dedicated his life to caring for Jewish children who came under his care, refusing to abandon any who were eventually deported together with him.

As the Allies advanced across Europe, they discovered and liberated concentration and extermination camps run by Nazi Germany. Desperate to conceal evidence of their crimes, Nazi leaders forced prisoners back to Germany on harrowing marches known as death marches - many died on these terrifying journeys which became known by their name.

The Allies were determined to uncover the truth about the Holocaust. With that goal in mind, they began investigating extermination camps where Jews were being slaughtered in mass numbers; their discovery provided world awareness of its magnitude.

After World War II, organizations and individuals established homes for Holocaust survivors' children. The aim was to rehabilitate them back into society and religion while giving them an opportunity to lead normal, healthy lives. Some survived long enough to marry, have children, and pursue productive careers - though many were left with lasting psychological scars from living through it; lost childhood dreams could never fully recover; in addition, there was the emotional weight of knowing what had been done to their parents and siblings that weighed heavily upon them.