Children During the Holocaust

Children were especially vulnerable during the Holocaust, and as many as 1.5 million children lost their lives in concentration camps around Europe. These adolescent victims made up the Jewish, Gypsy, Polish, Russian, and many other populations. Nazis tortured children aged 13-18 with forced labor and cruel treatment (medical experiments, countless human rights crimes, etc.).

The children involved in the genocide were sorted into five categories: children killed upon arrival, children killed right after being born, children who only lived because they were hidden by other prisoners, children over the age of twelve who could be used as laborers, and children who lost their lives during anti-partisan operations.

Upon arrival at various camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, the majority of children were immediately sent to killing centers and gas chambers. Children were treated as objects and science experiments, and many were killed from infection, hunger, or injury. The smaller children were seen as just an extra expense, since they could contribute nothing to the survival of the camps.

After World War II, soldiers searched throughout Europe in order to find missing children. Many surviving kids were motherless orphans who still encountered a series of unfortunate events. While learning about the Holocaust in my English class, I hope to learn more about the children during this time, and I would very much enjoy gathering evidence of actual stories from surviving children.

"Children During the Holocaust". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 10 June 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005142>.