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Media Essay

Children during the Holocaust (Abridged Article) - Photograph

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children Holocaust youth

A destitute child in the Warsaw ghetto

A severely emaciated child with medium-light skin tone sitting on a street eating while people walk around them. The child is wearing a heavy jacket and worn slippers with bare legs.

An emaciated child eats in the streets of the Warsaw ghetto. Warsaw, Poland, between 1940 and 1943.

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Jewish refugee children en route from Germany to Palestine

Jewish refugee children gather in the US zone of occupation in Germany, en route to Palestine. [LCID: 76616]

Jewish refugee children gather in the US zone of occupation in Germany, en route to Palestine. One refugee waves a Zionist flag. Frankfurt, Germany, April 10, 1946.

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Youngsters in displaced persons camp

Children in the Bad Reichenhall displaced persons camp. [LCID: 80980]

Children in the Bad Reichenhall displaced persons camp. Germany, 1945.

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Rescuer Father Bruno

Father Bruno with Jewish children he hid from the Germans. [LCID: 08732]

Father Bruno with Jewish children he hid from the Germans. Yad Vashem recognized Father Bruno as "Righteous Among the Nations." Belgium, wartime.

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Jewish children who were sheltered in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon

Jewish children sheltered by the Protestant population of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. [LCID: 83599]

Jewish children sheltered by the Protestant population of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. France, 1941–44.

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Young survivors of Buchenwald

Soon after liberation, camp survivors from Buchenwald's "Children's Block 66"—a special barracks for children. [LCID: 28204]

This photograph taken soon after liberation shows young camp survivors from Buchenwald's "Children's Block 66"—a special barracks for children. Germany, after April 11, 1945.

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Child survivors of Auschwitz

Six children of various ages walk out of a wood barrack through snow. They are all wearing heavy coats, scarves, and other kinds of winter accessories. The child in the center of the photograph is the only one that looks towards the photographer.

Soon after liberation, surviving children of the Auschwitz camp walk out of the children's barracks. Poland, after January 27, 1945.

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Two young brothers in the Kovno ghetto

Two young brothers sit next to each other on a bench inside of an apartment. The older boy sits on the right while wearing a dark jacket with a Star of David patch on the left side of his chest. The younger boy sits on the left while wearing a light colored long sleeve shirt with a Star of David patch on the left side of his chest. Both boys have short dark hair and light skin tone.

Two young brothers, seated for a family photograph in the Kovno ghetto. One month later, they were deported to the Majdanek camp. Kovno, Lithuania, February 1944.

Pictured are Avram (5 years) and Emanuel Rosenthal (2 years). Emanuel was born in the Kovno ghetto. The children, who were deported in the March 1944 "Children's Action," did not survive. Their uncle, Shraga Wainer, who had asked George Kadish to take this photograph, received a copy of it from the photographer after the war in the Landsberg displaced persons camp.

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Deportation of Jewish children from the Łódź ghetto

A large group of unaccompanied children line up outside of railcars. There are a few adults looking over the proceedings.

Deportation of Jewish children from the Łódź ghetto in German-occupied Poland during the "Gehsperre" Aktion, September 1942.

In September 1942, German authorities rounded up and deported about 15,000 Jews from the Łódź ghetto to the Chełmno killing center. During this action, they specifically targeted the sick, the elderly, and young children under age ten. On September 4, Chaim Rumkowski, head of the Łódź Jewish Council, called on ghetto residents to cooperate and give up their young children. The following day, the Germans imposed a curfew that confined Jews to their homes while the roundup took place. This roundup became known as the Gehsperre action, named for the German phrase "allgemeine Gehsperre," meaning "general curfew." 

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Family members say goodbye to a child

Family members say goodbye to a child through a fence at the ghetto's central prison where children, the sick, and the elderly were ... [LCID: 89772]

Family members say goodbye to a child through a fence at the ghetto's central prison where children, the sick, and the elderly were held before deportation to the Chełmno killing center. Łódź, Poland, September 1942.

In September 1942, German authorities rounded up and deported about 15,000 Jews from the Łódź ghetto to the Chełmno killing center. During this action, they specifically targeted the sick, the elderly, and young children under age ten. On September 4, Chaim Rumkowski, head of the Łódź Jewish Council, called on ghetto residents to cooperate and give up their young children. The following day, the Germans imposed a curfew that confined Jews to their homes while the roundup took place. This roundup became known as the Gehsperre action, named for the German phrase "allgemeine Gehsperre," meaning "general curfew."

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Hunger in the ghetto

Two malnourished children sit in the dirt eating from shallow plates. The one on the left is younger, almost toddler age, with short curly hair and medium skin tone wearing a large dark dress. The child on the right is older, with medium skin tone, a head covering, and baggy clothes.

Children eating in a Warsaw ghetto street. Warsaw, Poland, between 1940 and 1943.

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Orphans arrive at a railroad station

German Jewish orphans arrive at the Marseille railroad station, en route to Palestine as part of Aliyah Bet ("illegal" immigration). [LCID: 66055]

Jewish orphans arrive at the Marseille railroad station, en route to Palestine as part of postwar Brihah movement. Marseille, France, March 25, 1948.

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