Children Of The HolocaustPlease keep those in your prayers who have been made victims of the horrible acts of terror commited against our country on September 11, 2001. G-d bless them and G-d bless America.
This systematic elimination of Jews, and many other types of people such as blacks, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and just about anyone who Hitler believed was not part of the "Master Race", was accomplished with tools of which came to be known as Concentration Camps. These were originally labor camps where prisoners were sent to perform slave labor for "Their Reich." But were later used for elimination of people too old, young, or weak to work. Tjis was done by way of the infamous gas chambers and crematoriums. The other poor souls were eliminated by simply being worked to death by their merciless overseers.
Most of these people were adults, but many, unbelieveably enough, were children. These lost and bewildered children were taken to their own prisons where they were reviewed and, if they were lucky, sent to work. While the not as lucky ones were sent to be killed. Many of those killed were simply too young or not strong enough to be of any use. Those who were lucky enough to be sent to work were given very little food and water, and a plank of wood on which to sleep. Many simply starved to death. Those children not found yet by Nazis were forced into hiding by the continuing advance of the "Blitzkrieg." The "Hidden Children" as they were called, faced many of the same horrors faced by those less fortunate ones in the death camps, but they more often survived their ordeal. They lacked food and water, and due to their hiding places, which were often basements or even crawlspaces, they also lacked such luxuries as indoor plumbing, comfortable place to sleep. Those who did have such features as running water often times could not use it for fear of being discovered.
Many times in the war would a kind Gentile family take in Jewish, or children of any other religion who were running from the war, into their homes and hide them from the prying eyes of the Nazis. These children were hidden in such places as cabinets, crawl spaces, and even in holes which would be dug beneath the floor of the families house hold. These methods were rather successful in rescuing children who were attempting to escape the war. These people were regarded as heroes after the war.
Liberation of the survivors in the German concentration camps did not come quickly. After nearly five years, and over 12 million people killed, halfof which were Jewish, the first, the Russians sheltered the prisoners, and although they did not kill them, the ex-prisoners were given very little care. Then in 1945, the Allies took Germany by storm and freed all the children and adult prisoners. The British and American soldiers were much more generous to these children. Accounts of people that were children in this time reported that these soldiers threw chocolate and chewing gum to these grateful survivors. Many had not seen such novelties in years. Many of these children were reunited with their parents and traveled to the United States to start life anew. Others who were not so fortunate, wandered through Europe and some found their way to other countries. Many ended up in America. Some who were not so lucky returned to Germany to Find their homes and memories destroyed.Some were even killed as they wandered Europe. Others ended up in other countries in Europe. But none of these Children Of The Holocaust will forget the horrific experience that changed their lives forever.
Written By Russell Goldstein
Only a few months after the allied occupation of Germany. Adolf Hitler commited suicide in a German bunker, and the German forces crumbled promptly thereafter. The horror was finally over.
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Adolf Hitler, Der Fuhrer
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