Nazi Germany took no pity on Jewish children and they were persecuted just like adults. However, children had better chance of living undiscovered. Many children took fake identities. This was a hard to achieve because they needed fake papers and had to watch what they said so their real identity didn't come out. Regine Donner, a jewish child from Belgium said "I had to keep my Jewishness hidden, secret, 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, my zionist idealism." Some children even moved in with other families. Many Muslim parents "adopted" a Jewish child to protect and Catholic Convents did the same. In response to this many Jewish children converted to the religion that saved them from the concentration camps other Jews had to endure. Some children however, didn't have that same experience. 15% of children taken in by other families were mistreated and abused. These children had no outlet because reporting their abuse to the authorities could result in their capture. Jewish children who could not pass as "Aryan" or had heavy accents could not hide their ties to Judaism. These children would hid in attics and cellars for days or hours on end. They remained silent because any noise could uncover their hiding place. While in hiding children played with toys made from everyday objects (like corks), and read books to pass the time.
Those who could not or chose not to conceal their faith were forced to wear the Star of David on their clothes. This caused them to be found easily during raids by the Nazi party. Once Jews were identified they were taken and confined to their own neighborhoods, called ghettos. which were found in the worst parts of town. Internment camps were constructed to house hundreds of Jews before they were sent to concentration camps. After the Concentration camps were built many people were sent straight into confinement. Upon arrival at the camps, children were among the first sent to the gas chambers. Only 6,700 teenagers were used for forced labor but the remaining 209,000 were deemed "useless eaters" and killed. After liberation it was discovered that 33% of the adults sent to concentration camps survived while only 6 - 11% of children made it out. |