NAZI Concentration Camps: Children

NAZI concentration camps children
Figure 1.--Here we see a boy inmate at an unidentified German concentration camp (KZ). The unifiorm clearly identifies him as a KZ inmate. He seems to be just old enough to convince the SS men doing the selection that he could work. Unfortunately we do not know who he is or the details of his World War II experience nor do we know if he survived the War.

The Germans did not generally hold children in concentration camps. The camps were primarily to punish political opponents or work camps for forced labor. And children did not fit into either category, especially younger children. The German camp system was so large and varied, however, that thousands of children were held in the camps and some survived to be liberated by the Allies. Hundreds of thousands of children, perhaps over a million children were arrested or otherwised detained by German authorities. Most were Jewish children were at first allowed to live with their parents in the ghettos. When the ghettos were emptied and the Jews transported to camps, most of the children were selected out on arrival or at a later period for death as non-workers. From all occupied areas, children were deported with their families and were often the first to be killed with their mother or other adult woman caring for them as well as often older sisters. Mothers who held their babies in their arms were gassed together with the children. Not only were the children non-workers, but trying to separate mothers and children would have resulted in disruptions. This was a subject discussed by the German officers secretly taped in Allied POW camps. Non-Jews seized in the East for war work were adults or older teenagers. The children were left behind and in some cases had to fend for themselves. There were, however, some children in the concentration camps. Older children were in many instances allowed to work. Some children lied about their age and possession of coveted skills like tailors and cobblers. Inmates hid a few children. In one notable instance a very young Jewish boy was adopted as a mascot because his father was such a valuable worker. Some children were seized as Lebensborn candidates, but then rejected. Often these children were killed as Himmler did not want German's enemies to have such valuable genetic material and most were too young to work. Other children were used for medical experiments. Josef Mengele was the most notorious of the SS doctors, but not the only one who experimented on children. The Soviets found 180 of these children when they entered Auschwitz. Some camps held special populations such as gypsies, hostage families, Jews with neutral or American passports, and other special cases. More children came into the concentration camps when the Germans intensified anti-partisan operation in the former eastern areas of Poland (1943-44). The children who were not immediately killed, even more so than in the ghettos where parents could provide some protection, were at risk because their young bodies could not stand up to the brutal camp regime and starvation food rations.

Jewish Children

Hundreds of thousands of children, perhaps over a million children were arrested or otherwised detained by German authorities. Most were Jewish children were at first allowed to live with their parents in the ghettos. When the ghettos were emptied and the Jews transported to camps, most of the children were selected out on arrival or at a later period for death as non-workers. From all occupied areas, children were deported with their families and were often the first to be killed with their mother or other adult woman caring for them as well as often older sisters. Mothers who held their babies in their arms were gassed together with the children. Not only were the children non-workers, but trying to separate mothers and children would have resulted in disruptions. This was a subject discussed by the German officers secretly taped in Allied POW camps. Some children lied about their age and possession of coveted skills like tailors and cobblers and thus were mo killed upon arrival. Inmates hid a few children. In one notable instance a very young Jewish boy was adopted as a mascot because his father was such a valuable worker.

Gypsy Children


Eastern Forced Laborers

Non-Jews seized in the East for war work were adults or older teenagers. The children were left behind and in some cases had to fend for themselves. There were, however, some children in the concentration camps. Older children were in many instances allowed to work.

Lebensborn Rejects

Some children were seized as Lebensorn candidates, but then after rigorous testing or because of cooperative behavior were rejected. Often these children were eventually killed rather than returned to their parents which would have been difficult to do. In addition, Himmler did not want Germany's enemies to have such valuable genetic material and most were too young to work.

Medical Experiments

Other children were used for medical experiments. As far as I know only Jewish children and a few Gypsy children. I do not know of Slavic children being used. Various SS camp doctors were involved in a range of medical experiments. Josef Mengele at Auschwitz was the most notorious of the SS doctors, but not the only one who experimented on children. Dr. Kurt Heissmeyer also experimented on children. Mengele oversaw the selections when the transports arrived at Auschwitz. It was here he found his child medical victims. In particular he as looking for twins. Of all the dreadful actions at Auschwitz, perhaps the most appalling was the Auschwitz medical experiments, especially those on the children. The children were subjected to terrible trauma involving absurd racial theories. Most of the child subjects died as a result of the experiments. The Soviets when they entered Auschwitz found 180 of these children who some how managed to survive, but suffering from the effects of the barbaric experiments.

Special Populations

Some camps held special populations such as gypsies, hostage families, Jews with neutral or American passports, and other special cases. Tsvi Nussbaum, the young boy from the Warsaw Ghetto with his hands raised in a famous photograph, was one such boy. Tsvi Nussbaum and his aunt because of their residence in Palestine had foreign passports and were thus sent to Bergen-Belsen as exchange Jews. The family had emigrated to Palestine in 1935, but returned to Sandomierz, Poland in 1939 just before Hitler launched World War II. Bergen-Belsen was not a death camp although large numbers of people died there.

Anti-Partisan Operations

More children came into the concentration camps when the Germans intensified anti-partisan operation in the former eastern areas of Poland (1943-44).

Risk

The children who were not immediately killed, even more so than in the ghettos where parents could provide some protection, were at risk because their young bodies could not stand up to the brutal camp regime and starvation food rations.

Family Liability/Klan Punishment: Sippenhaft

NAZI authorities did not only punish political dissidents themselves, but also their families. Their parents, siblings and relatives also were in danger of vicious reprisals. This concept was called Sippenhaft. It was an older law based on blood guilt and became part of the NAZI system of terror. The punishment of Sippenhaft was used to instill fear and maintain compliance among the regime diktats to German citizens. [Loeffel Young German children were not normally sent into the camps, but adult family members were. The younger children were adopted or committed to institutional homes. This was what happened to the families of the July Bomb Plotters. One author writes, "Punishment of family members, with its emphasis on blood, was ideologically appealing to the regime and terrifying to any family man." After failed July Bomb Plot the Staufenberg family suffered under this law. Actually it was not a law in that it as never codified. Rather it was a practice used by the Gestapo. Staufenberg's wife was sent to a concentration camp. but the children along with the children of other plotters were taken from their mother and given new names. They were sent to an children's home Bad Sachsa. It was set up in an isolated location near Nordhausen in the Harz mountains. They were to be adopted by a reliable NAZI family.

Sanatorium


Juvenile Delinquents


Sources

Loeffel, Robert. Family Punishment in Nazi Germany: Sippenhaft, Terror and Myth (Palgrave Macmillan: 2012), p. 272.






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Created: 10:24 PM 9/21/2013
Last updated: 5:17 PM 10/12/2013
Last updated: 5:17 PM 10/12/2013