Jewish Victims of the Holocaust:

Hidden Children
Jewish Victims: Table of Contents | Photographs | Tracing Lost Family
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When World War II began in September 1939, there were approximately 1.6 million
Jewish children living in areas that the Germans or their allies would occupy. When
the war in Europe ended in May 1945, more than 1 million - perhaps as many as 1.5
million - Jewish children were dead. They were systematically targeted as victims in
the Nazi calculated program ofgenocide. Liberation from Nazi tyranny brought no
end to the sufferings of the Jewish children who survived - many would have to face
the future without any living family members or without knowledge of their Jewish
identity.
As Warsaw ghetto historian Emanuel Ringelblum wrote in 1942, Even in the most
barbaric times, a human spark glowed in the rudest heart, and children were spared.
But the Hitlerian beast is quite different. It would devour the dearest of us, those who
arouse the greatest compassionour innocent children.

Death
Hitler made the decision in 1941 to carry out the systematic mass
murder of Jews. Mobile killing squadsfollowed the German army into
the Soviet Union in June 1941, and by the end of the year, murdered
almost 1 million Jewish men, women, and children. That December,
the Chelmno killing center began operation. During 1942, the Nazis
established five more death camps to carry out the gassing of Europe s
Jews.
All Jews were targeted for death, but the mortality rate for children was
especially high. Only 6 to 11% of Europe s prewar Jewish population
of children survived as compared with 33% of the adults. The young
generally were not selected for forced labor, and the Nazis often carried
out childrens actions to reduce the number of useless eaters in the
ghettos. In the camps, children, the elderly, and pregnant women
routinely were sent to the gas chambers immediately after arrival.

Hardships
Parents, children, and rescuers faced daunting challenges once the
decision was made to go into hiding. Some children could pass as nonJews and live openly. Those who could not had to live clandestinely,
often in attics or cellars. Children posing as Christians had to carefully
conceal their Jewish identity from inquisitive neighbors, classmates,
informers, blackmailers, and the police. Even a momentary lapse in
language or behavior could expose the child, and the rescuer, to danger.
Living as a non-Jew required false identity papers, which were difficult
to obtain in German-occupied Europe and were subject to frequent
review by the authorities. Over the course of the war, children often
had to move from one refuge to another. For the children who had to
leave their parents behind, the emotional pangs of separation were
constant and the worries many.

False Papers
For Jews to pass as Aryans, it was essential to have false identity
papers, which were often gained through contacts with the antiNazi resistance. Using forged or acquired papers, such as a birth or
baptismal certificate, Jews sometimes could obtain legitimate
documents under an assumed name from the authorities. These ruses
posed great risks to the bearer since the Germans and collaborating
police forces closely examined identity documents in their frequent
searches for Jews, resistance members, and individuals evading
conscript labor.

Hiding Places
Not all Jewish children could pass as Aryans and enjoy relative
freedom of movement on the outside. Those who looked Jewish, did
not speak the local language, or whose presence in a rescuers family
raised too many questions had to be physically hidden. Children were
kept in cellars and attics, where they had to keep quiet, even
motionless, for hours on end. In rural areas, hidden children lived in
barns, chicken coops, and forest huts. Any noiseconversation,
footstepscould arouse neighbors suspicion and perhaps even prompt
a police raid. During bombings, Jewish children had to remain hidden,
unable to flee to the safety of shelters. Under these conditions, the
children often suffered from a lack of human interaction and endured
boredom and fear.

Circumcision
In a tradition dating back to the biblical patriarch Abraham, infant male
Jews have been ritually circumcised as a sign of the Jewish peoples
covenant with God. Even during the bleakest days of Nazi persecution,
Jews tried to observe this practice. Because non-Jews in continental
Europe generally were not circumcised, German and collaborationist
police commonly checked males apprehended in raids. For boys
attempting to hide their Jewish identity, using a public restroom or
participating in sports could lead to their discovery. More rarely, they
underwent painful procedures to disguise the mark of circumcision or
even dressed as girls.

Multiple Rescuers
Finding a rescuer was quite difficult, particularly one who would take
care of his or her charges for a period of years. Some individuals took
advantage of a persecuted familys desperation by collecting money,
then reneging on their promise of aidor worse, turning them over to
the authorities for an additional reward. More commonly, stress,
anguish, and fear drove benefactors to turn out the Jewish children
from their homes.
Organized rescue groups frequently moved youngsters from one family
or institution to another to ensure the safety of both the child and the
foster parent. In the German-occupied Netherlands, Jewish children
stayed in an average of more than four different places; some changed
hiding places more than a dozen times.

Security
A hidden childs safety and security demanded strict secrecy. Foster
families created elaborate explanations for the presence of a new face
in their home, identifying the child as a distant relative, friend, or
surviving member of a bombed-out household. Convents and
orphanages withheld youngsters Jewish identities from documents,
classmates, and staff. Organized rescue groups frequently moved
children around and kept records in code to prevent their charges
discovery. In some rescue networks, parents were not permitted to
contact their children or know their whereabouts.
The children themselves well understood the need for security. They
kept away from situations where their true identity might be exposed,

held fast to their false names and religion, and avoided mannerisms or
language that might be construed as Jewish or foreign.

Abuse
Jewish children who lived in hiding generally were treated well by their
rescuers. But not all youngsters had such experiences. Because they
could not turn to local authorities for help or were afraid of being
turned out, some children had to endure physical or sexual abuse by
their protectors. Studies conducted in the Netherlandsestimate that
more than 80% of the hidden children interviewed were treated well by
their rescuers, while 15% were occasionally mistreated, and some 5%
were treated badly.

Liberation
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the world learned of the
staggering human toll of the Holocaust. Few Jewish children survived.
In killing centers and concentration camps across Europe , systematic
murder, abuse, disease, and medical experiments took many lives. Of
the estimated 216,000 Jewish youngsters deported toAuschwitz, only
6,700 teenagers were selected for forced labor; nearly all the others
were sent directly to the gas chambers. When the camp
was liberated on January 27, 1945, Soviet troops found just 451 Jewish
children among the 9,000 surviving prisoners.
Soon after liberation, Jewish agencies throughout Europe began tracing
survivors and measuring communal losses. In the Low Countries ,
perhaps some 9,000 Jewish children survived. Of the almost 1 million
Jewish children in 1939 Poland , only about 5,000 survived. Most of
these youngsters survived in hiding.