The Holocaust was not only devastating to the adults, but also to the children. Children ate sawdust to survive, and were killed immediately if under the age of 12. If they survived they looked forward to long working hours and small amounts of food. If they were healthy enough they could even be sent for experimental testing as with twins, mentally and physically disabled, and sometimes babies. A child's life in a concentration camp were terrible, they had terrible living conditions, were malnourished, and had to work long hard hours if survived.
Living Conditions
Children that were in concentration camps were killed immediately when entering concentration camps (Children During), unless they looked older then 12 (Holocaust). Many innocent children died because of their religion or the way they looked on a daily basis. If a baby was born on a concentration camp or if found, they were killed immediately or used for experiments (Children During). When arriving to a camp one young survivor stated, " The smoke with the smell of burning flesh, that we suddenly smelled we passed off as the friction of the trains wheels in the rail. As the locomotve crept forward, we saw strangers in a ridge in striped clothes and matching berets, walking like zombies and staring at our train as though they had been expecting us"(The Holocaust: Teenagers..). Also the rail had been so full, the small children had been thrown on top of the people in the rail cars (Holocaust). Children died because of the difficult and disgusting life they had to live through.
This is a picture of children standing behind the barbed wire in the camps
Food and Nourishment
Children died from starvation in the concentration camps. The food rations continued to get smaller and smaller as the war progressed. (Holocaust) The food they did recived was infested with worms. (Holocaust) Since they did not recive enough food they became bloated and could not work(Holocaust), a survivor explains,"If they did not complete the wall in time we would not get any food,"(The Holocaust: Teenagers...). They would also get nutrtion by eating sawdust(The Holocaust: Teenagers).
These are women and children lying sickly in a camp
Labor and Schooling
Working in concentration camps was tiring and difficult. All children over the age of 12, if healthy enough were sent to labor camps or were sent for experimental testing.(Children During) Most children died because of the amount of labor they had to do just to survive. (Children During) The schooling was only ment for the boys in the aryan race,(Holocaust) if they were not the aryan race they were immeadtily expelled.(Holocaust) A man that had survived the holocaust paints a clear picture when he states,"His profession as a tailor, and I as a brick layer, I had never layed a brick in my life, but I learned quick that the secret to survival was hardwork, if you could not produce you were sent to the gas chambers," (The Holocaust: Teenagers...).
These are children cheering at a camp
References
Boas, Jacob, and Patricia C McKissack. We are Witnesses. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
“Children During Holocaust.” United States Holocaust Memorial Muesum. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005142>.
Children in The Holocaust Concentration Camp liberated by Red Army. N.d. Jpg file.
“Concentration Camps.” Ebsco Host. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org>.
DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP. 1 May 1945. Ap Images. The Assoiciated Press, 28 Mar. 1998. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://apimages.ap.org/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=children%20in%20concentration%20camp&showact=results&sort=relevance&intv=None&sh=14&kwstyle=and&adte=1273499470&dah=-1&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&nextdah=X%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C44%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C10%2C6%2C6%2C6%2C6%2C6%2C6%2C6%2C6%2C6%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX%2CX&rids=380c6c7616e1da11af9f0014c2589dfb&dbm=PY2000&page=1&xslt=1&dispname=450501047%2C%20DACHAU%20CONCENTRATION%20CAMP>.
“Holcaust.” frank.mtsu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html>.
The Holocaust: A teenager’s Experience. Remberance Educational Media , 1991. Discovery Education streaming. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=0597503A-0BF8-423F-9C89-EF340274469A&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US>.
Jacobs, Benjamin. “Auschwitz.” About.com. N.p., 1991. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.about.com>.
Kidtalkradio. Heather Rush Interviews Renee Firestone on Kids Talk Radio & Super School Teen TV P2a.m4v . Youtube. N.p., 6 Dec. 2009. Web. 13 May 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L43zBaSRTqw&feature=player_embedded>.
Saldinger, Anne Green. Life in Nazi Concentration Camp. San DIego: Lucent Books, 2001. Print.
- Betty Boop
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