INTRODUCTION- The Nazi Holocaust was one of history's most horrifying, and most talked about events. Millions of people were killed during this terrible time, many of these people were children. Innocent Children caught in the middle of a war which they were powerless to stop, and at a loss to understand. My project focuses on these children, the ones who died in the face of senseless racism, and the ones who lived to tell their tale. I hope that you find something of use here, whether you're a researcher, or someone who simply wishes to remember. Please Email Me with your comments and ideas. Thanks.
A BRIEF HISTORY- When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, German quality of life was low. Unemployment was high, and Germany was in a dire economic state brought on by the First World War. Hitler promised a return to glory for the German State. He convinced the German people that one "race" alone was responsible for the problems. The Jewish people. He set out to cure Germany, and the rest of the Nazi world of the "The Jewish Problem"
This systematic elimination of Jews, blacks, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and just about anyone who Hitler believed was not part of the "Master Race", was accomplished with Concentration Camps. 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. This was done by way of the infamous gas chambers and crematoriums. The others were eliminated by simply being worked to death by their merciless SS kommandants.
Most of these people were adults, but many, unbelieveably enough, were children. These lost and bewildered children were taken to their own prisons, and torn away from their parents. Many of those killed in the gas chambers 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 discovered by the SS, SD or the Gestapo 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, crawlspaces, or just hole cut in the floor of a house. They also lacked such luxuries as indoor plumbing, comfortable place to sleep, and proper sanitation and ventilation.
Many times in the war, a kind Gentile family take in refugees from the viscious Nazi regime into their homes and hide them from the prying eyes of the Gestapo. These families took a great risk, for hiding an "Undesirable" meant almost certain death for that entire household. 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, over 12 million people had died, a full half of which were Jewish. The Russians stormed Berlin in 1945, signaling the end was near. Then in April, the Allied invasion forces, many of which had arrived through the Normandy beaches. The Allied soldiers were very generous to these children. These soldiers threw chocolate and chewing gum to these grateful survivors as they passed riding atop sherman tanks and Jeeps. Many had not seen such novelties in years.
Only a few months after the allied occupation of Germany, the war was over. Hitler was dead, and the Nazis were, for the time, mere notion. The horror was finally over.
A lucky few of the survivors were reunited with their families and were able to resume their old lives. Others who were not so fortunate, and had lost their parents to the gas chambers, were orphaned and lost, and many died. Even others ended up in America. Some who were not so lucky returned to Germany to Find their homes and memories destroyed. Others ended up in other countries in throughout the world. But none of people will forget the horrific experience that changed their lives forever.
