Regine Donner, a famous Holocaust survivor, once said, “I had to keep my Jewishness hidden, secret, and never to be revealed on penalty of death. I missed out on my childhood and the best of my adolescent years. I was robbed of my name, my religion, and my Zionist idealism” (“Hidden Children”). Jewish children went through a lot throughout the Holocaust- physically, mentally, and emotionally. Life was frightening and difficult for children who were in hiding during the rule of Adolf Hitler. The children during the holocaust had many struggles with their physical health. They were forced to stay in very small places and were unable to have contact with a doctor if they had gotten sick. Also they had a lack of food and some children in their host homes would get abused and mistreated. At least a little over one million children were murdered during the holocaust (“Children’s diaries”). Out of all the Jewish children who had suffered because of the Nazis and their axis partners, only a small number of surviving children actually had wrote diaries and journals (“Children’s diaries”). Miriam Wattenberg is one out of the hundreds of children who wrote about their life story during the time of the holocaust (“Children’s Diaries”). She was born October 10, 1924 (“Children’s Diaries”). Miriam started writing her diary in October 1939, after Poland surrendered to the German forces (“Children’s Diaries”). The Wattenberg family fled to Warsaw in November 1940 (“Children’s Diaries”). At that time she was with her parents and younger sister (“Children’s Diaries”). They all had to live in the Warsaw ghetto (“Children’s Diaries”). Halina, another child survivor, tells what happened to her while in hiding. Halina and her family went into hiding ... ... middle of paper ... ... trams and driving (“Frank 4”). During the rule of Adolf Hitler, many children who were Jewish lived a very frightening and difficult life. They never were given the love and compassion that every child needs and deserves growing up. The Holocaust is a story that will continue to be shared till the end of time. Works Cited Peabody, Halina. Interview. 2008-2011. Frank, Anne. The Diary of Anne Frank. Netherlands: contact in Amsterdam, 1947. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Hidden Children: Hardships.” United states Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial council, 10 June 2013. Web. 07 Mar 2012. Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Hidden Children.” About.com. About.com, n.d. web. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Children’s diaries during the Holocaust.” USHMM. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2014
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children" (Nelson Mandela). If this statement is considered true, then it's fair to say that during times of the Holocaust, the German society was at an all time low. Children during the Holocaust did not have a carefree childhood, like they should have, but instead were placed under strenuous conditions. They had to go through being separated from all family and friends, being chosen the first to go to, and in most cases a permanent loss of family members. The Holocaust was undoubtedly a horrific experience for everyone involved but for children it must have been traumatizing.
Those who survived are here to tell the tragic and devastating history of their lives. The survivors have shared brutal but yet realistic stories from each of their experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust. History shall never repeat itself in the manner of racism, murder, and fear of our leaders. The burning hope of those who were involved still generates an enormous sadness upon the many who have heard the horror of the Holocaust.
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
Those of half and quarter Jewish descent remain largely forgotten in the history of the Third Reich and genocide of the Holocaust. Known as Mischlinge, persons of deemed “mixed blood” or “hybrid” status faced extensive persecution and alienation within German society and found themselves in the crosshairs of a rampant National Socialist racial ideology. Controversially, these people proved somewhat difficult to define under Nazi law that sought to cleave the Volk from the primarily Jewish “other”, and as the mechanization toward Hitler’s “Final Solution” the Mischlinge faced probable annihilation. The somewhat neglected status of Mischlinge necessitates a refocusing on German racialization as well as reconsideration of the implications wrought by the alienation and ultimate persecution of the thousands of half and quarter Jews subjugated in Nazi Germany.
Kelly - Goss, Robert. "Hiding from the Nazis, a Jewish family survives the Holocaust." The Daily Advance. The Daily Advance, 09 Jul 2011. Web. 18 Nov 2013. .
As early as age thirteen, we start learning about the Holocaust in classrooms and in textbooks. We learn that in the 1940s, the German Nazi party (led by Adolph Hitler) intentionally performed a mass genocide in order to try to breed a perfect population of human beings. Jews were the first peoples to be put into ghettos and eventually sent by train to concentration camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald. At these places, each person was separated from their families and given a number. In essence, these people were no longer people at all; they were machines. An estimation of six million deaths resulting from the Holocaust has been recorded and is mourned by descendants of these people every day. There are, however, some individuals who claim that this horrific event never took place.
Jews have perished because of their beliefs since the beginning of time but never have so many Jews been persecuted worldwide as they were in World War II. Anne Frank’s diary reaches a place within all of our hearts because it reminds us how easily the innocents can suffer. Sometimes we may choose to close our eyes or look the other way when unjustifiable things happen in our society and Anne’s tale reminds us that ignorance, in part, claimed her life. Sadly, her story is but one of many of those who died in the Holocaust and as with other Jews, her fate was determined by the country she lived in, her sex and her age.
“One of the most extraordinary aspects of Nazi genocide was the cold deliberate intention to kill children in numbers so great that there is no historical precedent for it.” (Lukas, 13 Kindle) About 1.5 million children were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust—one million being killed because they were Jews (ushmm.org) The Germans had a clearly defined goal of killing the Jewish children so that there would be no remnants of their race to reproduce, resulting in extinction. Not only were the children that were victimized in the Holocaust persecuted and murdered, but they were all stripped of their childhood. Children were not allowed to be children—they had to, for their own survival, be adults. The oppression of children because of race was a direct result of Hitler’s cruel policies and beliefs. In order to stifle the Jewish race from growing, the children were the first to be slaughtered at extermination camps (ushmm.org).
“‘If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example.’” ― Anne Frank (“Children During the Holocaust” 5). In Lodz, Poland, the Nazis had reduced a Jewish population of more than 220,000 to almost less than 1,000 (“Hidden Children: Quest for Family” 2). Families during the Holocaust were treated so badly that being Jewish for some Jewish children had come to symbolize persecution while Christianity symbolized security (“Hidden Children: Quest For Family” 3). And, another frequent problem of the separation of the family was a child's inability in later life to form effective bonds (“Separation from the Family” 12). The Holocaust was something people could only imagine. Families were split apart, loved ones were
The children of the Holocaust had plenty of experiences throughout their lives in the Holocaust. They went through very hard times as children from the time when they lived in the ghettos, living conditions, and there transport to safety. What experiences did children who lived in the Holocaust have?
The Holocaust is an event that will live forever in infamy in the minds and hearts of everyone that knows its story and of the suffering the victims experienced. The victims of what was mainly Jewish descent were persecuted against by the Nazi regime Because of their anti-Semitic views that led to the largest and most famous Genocide in the history of mankind. The story of the Holocaust spread and was spread around the globe until over time a few facts became mixed or misinterpreted. These misinterpretations gave anti-Semitics and Neo-Nazis what they needed to stir up controversy on the subject to pull blame away from the Nazi Regime. These ideals are wrong but have led to debates over what is right and wrong on the subject and the people who tell the lies need to be proven wrong.
The Holocaust was one of the most tragic and trying times for the Jewish people. Hundreds of thousands of Jews and other minorities that the Nazis considered undesirable were detained in concentration camps, death camps, or labor camps. There, they were forced to work and live in the harshest of conditions, starved, and brutally murdered. Horrific things went on in Auschwitz and Majdenek during the Holocaust that wiped out approximately 1,378,000 people combined. “There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust.” –Fidel Castro
The Holocaust is a subject familiar to most people around the world. They either learned about it in school or on TV. The word “Holocaust” comes from the Greek words “holos” and “kaustos. “Holos” which means whole and the word “kaustos” meaning burned. Originally it is historically used to describe a sacrificial offering burned on an altar. Throughout history the word has taken a whole different meaning. The modern definition of the word means the mass murder of some 6 million European Jews and other groups by the German Nazi “regime” during World War ll (History, 2016). The Holocaust was one of the darkest times for both Germany and the Jews who were targeted because Hitler believed that they didn’t meet his standards that would compromise
Childhood is a powerful and important time for all humans. As a child, the things one sees and hears influences the choices and decisions they make in the future. “How a child develops during early and middle childhood years affects future cognitive, social, emotional, language, and physical development, which in turn influences their trust and confidence for later success in life” (Early and Middle Childhood). Yehuda Nir’s, The Lost Childhood is a first person memoir based on the life of a youthful Jewish child who survived the Holocaust. Taking place from pre-World War II 1939, to post-World War II 1945, this memoir highlights the despicable things done during one of the darkest times in modern history. Prior to being published in October