56. This invective, used often in Nazi parlance, translates roughly as “Die, Jews!” or “Jews, drop dead!”
When I arrived home crying, my grandmother said to me that I should save my tears until I knew everything. That is to say that my uncle, like all Jewish men over the age of eighteen, had been taken to Dachau. The Gestapo had been to the house, had ransacked the place, and ordered that we had to leave the apartment immediately.
Our loyal housekeeper, Afra, was indignant that an old lady and a little girl should simply be thrown out of their apartment. So she went in the afternoon to the Gestapo headquarters and carried on like a madwoman, asking what the big idea was and declaring how inhumane they were. In any case, we were allowed to remain in the apartment.
My grandmother had always said I must be proud that I am Jewish, but that was completely incomprehensible to me. I had always been terribly ashamed that I belonged to this horrible people with their terrible Jewish grimaces, as they were pictured in Der Stürmer. In my family certainly no one looked like that, but somehow it had still made an impression on me, and I felt like an inferior Untermensch.57 And in school I was treated in exactly this manner, and at some point came to accept that I was of lesser value than the others.
57. This means “inferior being.”
The Dismissal of Jewish Children from “German” Schools
In 1933, some sixty thousand Jewish children were of school age in Nazi Germany.58 Especially in the earliest days of anti-Jewish legislation, parents and family members may have been able to shield youngsters from the worst aspects of antisemitic persecution: financial difficulties, the diminution within the circles of customers and business associates, the attenuation of social and community support, the likelihood of the loss of livelihood and property. But no one could protect Jewish children from the unconcealed prejudice and discrimination that they encountered in their classrooms. Long before comprehensive efforts were undertaken to displace Jewish pupils from German public schools, Jewish boys and girls often experienced brutal treatment and painful rejection at the hands of their teachers and fellow students. In many schoolroom settings, they were held up to public ridicule by instructors and endured both taunting and bullying from their peers. Jewish children often had to sit on separate benches from their “Aryan” schoolmates, and in some schools, Jewish and German pupils were physically segregated. Spurned by classmates with whom they had been friendly for years, they could not join in many student events and were often excluded from school festivities and outings. The curriculum itself was alienating, with its emphasis on “Aryan” superiority, racial hygiene, and Nazi themes such as antisemitism and the subordination of so-called inferior peoples. In the midst of these indignities, Jewish pupils had few alternatives. As German law prescribed that school attendance was mandatory until age fourteen, many Jewish teenagers simply dropped out of school. Others—some 52 percent by 1936—enrolled in Jewish schools supported by the Reichsvertretung or other private organizations. Although this was a substantial leap from the 14 percent of students attending Jewish schools in 1932, a significant percentage of Jewish children nevertheless remained in public school classrooms until a decree in November 1938 definitively banned them from attending German schools.59
58. See Kaplan, Between Dignity and Despair, 103.
59. Kaplan, Between Dignity and Despair, 103.
Nazi efforts to expel Jewish pupils from German public schools began with the April 25, 1933 Law against the Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities. This legislation imposed a quota for Jewish students, stipulating that enrollment of Jewish youth in schools and universities be limited to 1.5 percent of the students registered. The decree looked imposing, but in practice, its bark was worse than its bite, for exemptions were granted to all students whose fathers had fought in World War I; and in many areas, the Jewish population was such that resident Jewish children in a given district fit within the prescribed quota. In the years that followed, regional ordinances further limited Jewish school attendance in certain areas, but a comprehensive national ban came only in the wake of Kristallnacht. Among the multitude of regulations marginalizing Jews in German social and economic spheres in the aftermath of the pogrom came a November 15, 1938, decree from the Reich Minister of Education, dismissing all Jewish pupils from German (i.e., public) schools.60
60. See Saul Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, Vol. 1: The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939 (New York: Harper Collins, 1997); Monika Kingreen, ed., “Nach der Kristallnacht”: Jüdisches Leben und antijüdische Politik in Frankfurt am Main, 1938–1945 (Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, 1999).
Document 1-11. Decree of the Reich Minister of Science, Education, and Adult Education re the schooling of Jews, November 15, 1938 (translated from the German).
The City PresidentBerlin, C.2., November 22, 1938
of the Reich Capital, BerlinBurgstrasse 20
Dept. of Higher EducationTel. no. 52 0021
III Gen 1952/38
Copy
The Reich Minister for Science,Berlin, W 8, November 15, 1938
Education, and Adult EducationPostal Box
E I b 745 (b)
Re: Schooling for Jews
After the infamous act of murder in Paris, no German schoolteacher can further be expected to give instruction to Jewish schoolchildren. It also goes without saying that it is intolerable for German school pupils to sit in the same classroom with Jews. The segregation of races in schools has already been generally accomplished in the last several years; but there is still a residual number of Jewish students in German schools, for whom school attendance with German boys and girls can no longer be permitted.
Subject to further legal regulations, I hereby order the following, effective immediately:
1. Jews are not permitted to attend German schools. They may only attend Jewish schools. As far as this has not occurred already, all Jewish male and female pupils now attending German schools are to be immediately dismissed.
2. Jews are defined by §5 of the First Decree of November 14, 1935, of the Reich Citizenship Law (German Law Gazette, I.P. 1333).
3. This regulation extends to all schools falling under my jurisdiction, inclusive of compulsory education establishments.
Signed for
(L. S.)Zschintzsch
Elisabeth Block, a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl from Niedernburg, Bavaria, had remained in her unsegregated classroom until the late fall of 1938. Although she lived in a rural community, where the abuse of Jewish pupils often proved harshest, Elisabeth thrived, surrounded by friendly schoolmates and buoyed by frequent outings with her class to the beautiful Alpine countryside. Elisabeth, who was introduced earlier, kept a diary in which, even during this dark period, she was loathe to record unpleasant developments. On November 17, 1938, she noted her expulsion and that of her siblings, Trudi and Arno, from their small Bavarian school. Just a week after the murder of her uncle, killed by SA men during Kristallnacht, Elisabeth remained cautiously optimistic about the new state of affairs. Although resolved to make the most of her new homeschooling, her entry makes plain the pain of isolation and separation from her friends and old life that lay just beneath the surface.
Document 1-12. Diary for Elisabeth Block, entry for November 17, 1938, in Elisabeth Block, Erinnerungszeichen: Die Tagebücher der Elisabeth Block, ed. Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte/Historischer Verein Rosenheim (Rosenheim: Wendelstein-Druck, 1993), 162–63 (translated from the German).
November 17, 1938
Now what Mama has feared for so long has come to pass. Trudi, Arno, and I may not go to school any longer. With a terribly heavy heart, I took leave of my dear schoolmates.
My Schedule:
6:30: wake up; make the beds after breakfast. Around 8:00 a.m.: go to “school” in Papa’s room, which will last till 10:00 a.m. We have German, mathematics, geog
raphy, history, drawing, and geometry. Tuesdays and Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.: stenography and English with Mama. Between 10:00 and 1:00: cooking and washing dishes. Afternoons: digging in the garden, homework, etc. Mondays: help Kathi with the wash, which is very much fun, because in the shed we’ve had a very nice, spacious laundry set up. In the evenings, Gabriele von Bülow’s Daughters61 and An Artist’s Life by F. Wasmann will be read aloud while we sew.
61. This was Gabriele von Bülow’s Töchter, a book coauthored by Anna von Sydow and Gabriele von Bülow, daughter of the famous German scholar, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt.
I am now completely preoccupied with this schedule and with preparations for Christmas62 and feel exactly as content again as if I were going to school.
62. Like many German Jews, the secular Blocks celebrated Christmas and other Christian holidays, not from religious conviction but to participate in the holiday’s outer trappings. The Blocks had a Christmas tree and joined in local public festivals; Elisabeth’s diary is full of holiday drawings and references to religious events and periods, such as Lent.
Document 1-13. A young girl reads her classroom lesson in Hebrew to her fellow classmates at a school sponsored by the Jewish Community of Berlin, c. 1935, USHMMPA WS# 32505, courtesy of the Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz.
What’s in a Name? Israel and Sara
In the wake of Reichskristallnacht, Nazi authorities accelerated legislation aimed at the “Aryanization” of Jewish-owned property and businesses and intensified efforts to isolate and segregate Jews from their fellow Germans. Jews were barred from all public schools and universities, as well as from cinemas, theaters, and sports facilities. In many municipalities, Jews were forbidden to enter designated “Aryan” zones. In order to further marginalize members of the Jewish community, German officials required Jews to identify themselves in ways that would separate them from the rest of the population. All German Jews were required to carry identity cards that indicated their “racial” heritage, and in the autumn of 1938, all Jewish passports bore the identifying letter J. In August 1938, German authorities had already decreed that Jews could employ as a forename only those “Jewish names” from an official list maintained by the Reich Interior Ministry. This Second Decree for the Implementation of the Law for the Changing of Family Names and First Names63 went into effect on January 1, 1939. Thereafter, Jews whose given names did not correspond to those on the authorized register had to add the name “Sara” after their first name if female, and “Israel” if male. On September 1, 1941, Nazi officials took this marginalization effort to an ominous conclusion, ordering all Jews over the age of six resident in the German Reich to wear a yellow star on their outer garments when in public.
63. The German is Zweite Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes über die Änderung von Familiennamen und Vornamen.
In the summer of 1939, lawyer Gilbert Kraus and his wife, Eleanor, traveled to Europe to bring refugee Jewish children back with them to the United States. Under the aegis of the Brith Sholom lodge, a Jewish fraternal organization headquartered in Philadelphia, the Krauses, with the help of Vienna’s Jewish Community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde) chose fifty Viennese youngsters who already possessed affidavits and stood on the U.S. quota list. The Krauses and their lodge personally vouched for the financial security of the children and arranged foster homes for them in the Philadelphia area.64 While procuring visas for the youngsters at the American consulate in Berlin, Eleanor Kraus witnessed the disquieting effects of recent Nazi policy upon a young Jewish girl in her charge.
64. For a more comprehensive discussion of the Krauses’ rescue efforts on behalf of Brith Sholom, see chapter 9.
Document 1-14. Eleanor Kraus, “Don’t Wave Good-bye” (unpublished manuscript, private collection, c. 1940), 144–46 (© Liz Perle and Steven Kraus, reprinted with permission).
The children looked terrible. They were so weary and most of the little ones were still crying. The more we tried to stop them, the more they seemed to cry. Finally, I saw Gil.65 I went up to him. “What about the visas? What about the visas?” I said. He leaned over and whispered to me, “There are fifty-seven visas here and waiting. All our worries are over.”
65. This refers to Eleanor’s husband, Gilbert Kraus.
I went to Bob66 and gave him the news. None of us made any comments. After all, no one else but the three of us knew what a gamble we had taken. Now we had to settle down to clearing the children’s papers. The Embassy had put on about fifteen extra clerks to help with the paper work. Each child had to be interviewed separately and had to fill out a form and each child would have to have a physical examination by the doctor at the Embassy.
66. This refers to Dr. Robert Reuss, who accompanied the Krauses to Germany to make arrangements for the emigration of the children.
Gil went into Mr. Volmer’s office and I went into Mr. Rose’s office. We decided to bring one child in at a time for the interview. The child would enter and sit at the desk and Mr. Volmer and his German secretary would ask the questions of the child in German. He would give his name, address and all the other information. He would also have to sign, if he could write. Mr. Volmer was sweet with each and every child. I tried to make the child feel at home. The secretary kept typing all the information as it was given. The Vice Consuls were most considerate—had worked out every detail to make things go as quickly as possible for all of us. It was tedious, it took time, but on the whole it was going quickly. Some of the children were only four years old and these interviews naturally consumed more time than the older children.
There was one little girl I will never forget. I think she was about six or seven years old. She came in for her interview and sat in the big office chair across from Mr. Volmer. She looked like an Alice in Wonderland figure sitting in the chair with her long blond hair and her bright blue eyes. Mr. Volmer smiled. “Can you write?” “Ya” [sic], she said. We put the pen in her hand. “Write your name here,” said he, showing her the place on the paper. At this she seemed to freeze with fear. She grabbed the pen, lowered her head, and began to sob hysterically. She mumbled something over and over again which we could not hear. “What’s the matter? Don’t cry. Raise your head. We can’t hear you.”
Still she kept her head lowered, still she kept mumbling the same words over and over. She naturally spoke in German. I said to Mr. Volmer, “Can you understand her? What is she saying? I can’t make it out.” [. . .]
She was so overcome with terror I did not know how to pacify her. Finally she raised her head and said for all to hear, “Muss ich Sarah schreiben?” [“Must I write ‘Sarah’?”]
It took a moment for the implication of this question to hit all of us. We were too stunned to answer. Even the German clerk stood with her mouth open. Mr. Volmer lowered his head into his hands for a moment. My German was so limited, but I answered, “Nein, nein. Schreibe Charlotta. Schreibe Charlotta” [sic].
Mr. Volmer took over. “Write Charlotta. Write Charlotta,” said he. “Your name is Charlotta. You will always keep your name where you are going. You need never write Sarah again.”
Chapter 2
Children and the War
World War II was the most destructive conflict in modern history. Beginning in Europe on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland and later extending into the Pacific sphere, the war prompted the mobilization of 100 million military personnel. Although accurate casualty statistics are difficult to ascertain, scholars estimate that the number of total dead as a result of hostilities ranges from 50 to 70 million, including some 20 to 25 million combatants.1 Even as it exceeded the aggregate military deaths from the Great War which preceded it,2 World War II also marked an early manifestation of a new trend in modern warfare: it claimed far more civilian lives than military casualties. Within the parameters of “Total War” which blurred the distincti
on between military and civilian targets, it is believed that at least 40 million noncombatants fell victim to strategic bombing, war crimes, persecution, famine, and epidemic in the course of World War II.
1. This number includes some 5 million military personnel who died in captivity.
2. That is, World War I.
This chapter covers World War II in the European context and examines the effect of German and Axis aggression upon civilian families and their children, viewing the hardships and tragedies of warfare through the eyes of youngsters. In this context, children often witnessed death for the first time and experienced hunger and deprivation. The German occupation of nations in eastern and western Europe meant that Jewish children and adults in lands under Axis control became subject to stringent anti-Jewish measures. Other young people found themselves caught up in the midst of partisan warfare or fell victim to bitter reprisal actions. The following documentation demonstrates how children confronted the realities of conflict as World War II came home to them.
The First Taste of Conflict
Julien Hequembourg Bryan (1899–1974) was a well-known American photographer, filmmaker, and author, widely respected as the founder of the International Film Foundation, established in 1945. Bryan had gained fame in the 1930s for his vivid depiction of life in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and for the extensive lecture tours he undertook in the wake of his visits there. In September 1939, Bryan found himself the sole photojournalist from a neutral country left in Warsaw when German forces began their Blitzkrieg invasion of Poland. Fortunately still in possession of several thousand feet of film left over from a recent tour of western Europe, Bryan remained in the Polish capital throughout the three-week-long siege, witnessing the German army’s brutal attacks on military and civilian targets and documenting the anguish and courage of the Polish population. Bryan managed to evacuate the war zone along with other citizens of neutral countries during a brief truce on September 21, 1939. His film footage of the German assault on Warsaw would figure as America’s first cinematic glimpse of the European conflict that became World War II and would earn the filmmaker an Academy Award nomination in 1940.3
Children during the Holocaust Page 9