The term “childhood” has a variety of meanings. We today know it as the period between the ages of one and twelve. It is a period in which substantial physical and mental growth and learning occurs (Britannica Encylopedia). However, in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe, childhood had two meanings. The German youth were molded into perfect, ruthless beings who followed Hitler’s every command and questioned nothing (Sosnowski). On the flip side, children not considered “racially valuable” experienced tremendous loss, an ever-present sense of fear, and ultimately complete annihilation.
Childhood Filled with Militarization and Hatred
From education to social life and the workplace, the Nazi Party had its hand in all aspects of life (Sosnowski, 13). Education was one of the very first things the Nazi Party hit with policy changes. Starting as early as July 1933, all educational materials considered “un-German” were purged from curriculums with many textbooks ending up in burn piles. The focus of education shifted from preparing the child to be a functional member of society. Rather, the Nazi Party placed great emphasis on the physical health of the child, on Nazi rhetoric and eugenics, and on the molding of the “perfect” Nazi (Sosnowski, 19). History, another subject that was heavily modified, would be arranged to showcase German military heroes in an exaggerated spotlight. History also expressed the importance of “inheritance” and “race” (Sosnowski, 20). Education, it seemed, was intended for training the next generation for war.
The centerpiece of this education was Eugenics. Eugenics, coined by British polymath Sir Frances Galton, is the belief in “good lineage.” Both bad character and certain traits could be linked back to genetics. Humankind, Galton believed, was responsible for purging these traits from society via responsible mating habits if it is to survive (Silvestri, 67-70). It, of course, has now been debunked as a pseudo-science, but to the Nazi Party, these ideas were very real. Eugenics served as a foundation for Nazi policies that categorized people based on race rather than nationality, and it would inevitably lead to the Holocaust.
It is no surprise that Eugenics was applied to education. Children as young as grade school were taught about “race” and “Aryan superiority” (Sosnowski, 16), and the need to purge all others from society. It was in their textbooks, their school programs, and even in their children’s books. The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda understood the importance of the use of propaganda, and they allowed it to seep into all forms of media. Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom) was a popular children’s book of the era that was overtly antisemitic. In one particular scene, a mother uses mushrooms as a metaphor for Jews. She points out that a Jew is hard to point out in society, just as a poisonous mushroom is hard to spot among regular mushrooms. Regardless, she tells her child, Jews are a poison to society (Jewish Virtual Library). Der Hitlerjunge Quex was another example of propaganda that was popular among children. An experimental film in propaganda, it was a fictionalized version of the murder of Hitler Youth member Herbert Norkus (Baird, 495-496). It stoked feelings of patriotism, and it showcased communists as dirty, immoral people. This infusion of hate allowed for the easy brainwashing of young, impressionable minds. It was all they knew. It was all they were surrounded by.
If indoctrination was not bad enough in schools, Nazi ideology was manifested in Hitler Youth organizations. Hitler firmly believed the youth would be the salvation of Germany, and, as a result, strove to create a “brutal, domineering, fearless, cruel youth” (Adolf Hitler, 1933). He wanted no weakness, no individuality, and complete obedience from the new generation. Over the course of the 1930s, all unapproved youth groups– whether religious, political, or neither– were dissolved and made illegal (USHMM).
The only approved organizations for the youth to join belonged directly to the Nazi Party. There were two sections separated by sex and then further separated by age. Children would be “racially screened” to determine eligibility. Those considered “non-Aryan” were forbidden from joining (USHMM). Boys ages fourteen to eighteen were placed in the Hitlerjugend–Hitler Youth–where they were taught military drills, blind obedience, and physical strength. The weak were “culled” via humiliation and sometimes brutal attacks (Sosnowski, 27). There was no room for weakness. In the spirit of militarism, separate sects would also offer training in different aspects of the military. Military service was expected from the young men, and the strict training would begin at fourteen. Boys ten to fourteen would have the Deutsches Jungvolk–German youngsters–which laid out the foundations of Nazi ideology (Sosnowski, 13).
Girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one joined the League of German Girls, also known as the Bund Deutscher Mädel. They were taught the importance of being perfect German wives and mothers, housekeeping, and working together (USHMM). Girls between ten and fourteen also had a group called Jungmädelbund, Young Girls’ League, that began the housekeeping and Nazi education needed for the higher level. There was no escaping Nazi influence, especially as membership became mandatory for both boys and girls in 1939. The Hitler Youth was not unique to Nazi Germany, as several sects would pop up throughout occupied Europe.
Hitler was bent on creating an entire generation of obedient German soldiers and “perfect” German mothers. It was vital for the survival of Germany. Influence within education and mandatory youth groups allowed for the smooth indoctrination of the children. The Nazi Party became a surrogate parent and educator to the youth and allowed for the splintering of parent-child relationships. Children were taught that the Führer and the Nation came first, parents and everything else second. They were encouraged to report any suspected anti-Nazi behavior or sentiments. The German youth belonged to the Party.
Lebensborn and the Quest for Germanization
To expand the German population, the Nazi Party took two routes: the Lebensborn program and the “legal” kidnapping of racially eligible children from occupied Europe. The Lebensborn program was formed out of Eugenics policies, and it served as an assurance that the next generation of “pure Aryan Germans” could be born. The program was top secret, and selected SS men and “Aryan” women would be allowed to copulate (Lebensborn, 4:33-4:54). The first home opened in Bavaria in 1936, and it would be extended throughout Germany, the Sudentenland of Czechoslovakia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Norway (Olsen, 15). Unwed “Aryan” mothers would also be cared for by the state up until the child was born, as it was encouraged to have children born out of wedlock. The major focus was having as many children in the Reich as possible. Children born of this program were placed within a hierarchy. The children who had more “valuable blood” were offered up as a priority to SS families (Olsen, 17). Nazification began early for these children, as they had a form of “baptism” in the Führer’s name (Lebensborn, 15:33-17:23). Children considered “lesser” were placed in less prestigious homes or were murdered.
Legal kidnapping was an extension of the Lebensborn program. Eligible children, typically under the age of ten, were taken from their homes across occupied Europe (Sosnowski, 49). Originally, these children came from Poland and they were swept up during round-ups and retaliatory measures, were taken because their parents were considered “too immoral” to care for them, or were simply orphaned. Kidnapping would extend all over Eastern Europe and even to Norway (Sosnowski, 50). Children were not scrutinized as heavily, and they were often taken simply because they had blond hair and blue eyes. The Nazi Party viewed these children as having “superior blood.” Leaving them in enemy hands was out of the question (Ericsson and Simonsen, 17). These children underwent strict “Germanization” programs where they were stripped of their nationalities, isolated from family and culture, and forbidden from speaking their native language. They were quickly immersed in the German upbringing, education, and Hitler Youth programs (Sosnowski, 50-51). Children were taken as young as possible to make “Germanization” easier.
A Childhood Shattered
Another aspect of life that was targeted early by the Nazi Party was the family. The family was not viewed as an independent unit in society. Instead, it was viewed as something to be controlled by the state. Parents were primarily breeders, responsible for practicing “good racial hygiene” and restoring the German population (Sosnowski, 29-30). The Nuremberg Laws protecting German Blood and Honor categorized people in the Reich based on “purity of blood.” On one side, those who had “German or related blood” were considered full citizens of the Reich and, therefore, “Aryan.” Those who fell outside that category were denied citizenship and considered “aliens” (Sosnowski, 43). Marriages, as a result, were dissolved as they were not seen as legal by the courts or authorities.
Families began to fall apart and parents disappeared. Children of “non-German” parents suddenly saw themselves categorized by laws they did not understand (Sosnowski, 43). Jewish children experienced persecution from all around. Peers, educators, and strangers on the streets tormented them. Their family members, who were distant enough to be safe from the race laws, rejected them entirely. Friends turned their backs on them, and they would eventually be denied education and leisure activities as restrictions clamped down on movement (Sosnowski, 45). Jewish children couldn’t go to public spaces such as the movies or the city pool, they couldn’t own or use a bike, and they couldn’t walk the same street as an “Aryan” (Kluger, 25). Children felt isolated and ostracized by society, and the Nuremberg Laws laid the foundations for the beginning of the end for so many.
Total Annihilation
The first attempts to “racially cleanse” Germany came via euthanasia programs such as the Aktion T4. It was largely experimental at the expense of innocent lives. Nothing, however, happened until August 1939 (Silvestri, 66). Disabled individuals and others considered a “burden” to the state were taken into Reich custody. Quietly they were murdered in various hospitals, and family members were told they died of “natural causes.” The film Das Erbe, The Inheritance, was a short propaganda film that helped encourage the belief in the “necessity” of removing the weak (Silvestri, 66). The Nazi Party desired a strong gene pool free of disease and to prevent “degeneration.” Children were not spared as they too were considered “pollutants.” Children who did not make Lebensborn selections because they were born with disabilities suffered this fate (Olsen, 17).
The likelihood that children were to survive in the ghettos and the camps was low. Children under the age of twelve were considered useless as they were too young to work (Sosnowski, 60-61). They were the first to be murdered outside and inside the camps. Infants had no chance and were subject to especially inhumane methods of murder (Sosnowski, 86-87). If they were not murdered outright, they were murdered indirectly through the horrible conditions in the camps and by the hard labor they were forced to endure.
In Auschwitz in particular, some children underwent inhumane experiments at the hands of Josef Mengele. Twins in particular were of special interest. The children experimented on were injected with mystery chemicals, had tissue samples taken, were operated on, or forcibly sterilized. With twins in particular, if one was on the brink of death the other would be murdered around the same time as the former perished. The motives behind the experiments are not entirely clear, but it is speculated that it was an attempt to figure out how twins happen and to prove the superiority of the Aryan race (Segal, 49-51). The children selected were often Jewish or Roma.
Children who did survive did so by their quick thinking. They gave incorrect ages and did everything they could to look older. They relied on their instincts and got involved in smuggling operations within the ghettos. Older children took up arms and joined resistance movements.
Lasting Effects of the Holocaust
Crucial developmental years had been interrupted by the Holocaust. Some children suffered from lingering diseases or disabilities. For those who were experimented on, this was especially true. Children saw and experienced horrors beyond their comprehension, and many were not allowed to talk about it whatsoever (Feinstein, 174-175). Healing from the trauma was greatly stunted and the surviving children did not know how to deal with it. There was a great struggle with adult authority and resocialization into society, as the children had relied on themselves for so long (Feinstein, 159). They had grown up prematurely during the Holocaust. Reverting to acting their age was impossible.
It was not just the camp survivors that suffered, but also the children in hiding. They had lived in fear for so long that they were traumatized. Their circumstances got in the way of forming important relationships. They struggled with trusting the world around them (Feinstein, 159). Many had gone without proper nutrition or were stuck in cramped spaces, and they were disabled as a result. Education for all was lacking across the board, as they either needed to be de-Nazified or had been denied education altogether.
Lebensborn children and children who were stolen for “Germanization” either had falsified records or had none at all. Some stolen children had no connection to their places of origin, as they were far too young to remember anything (Feinstein, 170). Others refused to go home altogether because they had formed bonds with the adoptive families. For Lebensborn children born in the program, their origins were shrouded in mystery. Many would not know anything until well into their later years. Norwegian children who were born in the program were subject to social stigma and were often excluded from the family (Ericsson and Simonsen, 8).
Overall, children suffered from severe PTSD, struggled with forming lasting relationships, increased anxiety, and lacked the will to live (Farber et al, 31, 33). The suppression of their trauma did not help them. Jewish children in particular also struggled with their identity. All they saw when considering their faith was danger (Feinstein, 159).
Statistics
- Of the 6 million Jewish people who were murdered, 1.5 million were children (USHMM, Sosnowski)
- After the war, only 20% of Jewish children remained in Europe
- 13 million European children were abandoned or displaced (Sosnowski, 172)
- 10,000 children were rescued by the Kindertransport program (USHMM)
- 1,000 of them would be interred in British colonies
- Over 40,000 children were kidnapped from Eastern Europe; many were never found (USHMM)
- About 20,000 children across Europe were registered with Lebensborn by the end of WWII (Ericsson and Simonsen, 20)
- Norway alone had over 8,000
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