FEBRUARY 3 - MARCH 28, 2008
Approximately one and a half million of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust were children. In the six years that the Holocaust raged, there were few child survivors. For some, that period spanned their whole existence. The number of children who survived is estimated in the mere thousands.
Holocaust research stresses the role changes undergone by the children. Circumstances demanded that they should assume adult responsibilities: smuggling food; contributing to the family finances; caring for younger siblings after the deportation of their parents; and even participating in underground activities.
This exhibition opens a window into the world of children during the Holocaust. The toys, games, diaries and poems displayed highlight some of the personal stories of the children, providing a glimpse into their lives during the Holocaust.
Dolls and teddy bears became integral parts of the lives of the children they belonged to during the war. In many cases they accompanied them throughout the war and were a primary source of comfort and companionship. For some children teddy bears and dolls were the most significant possessions left with them at the end of the war. Even today, as adults, their attachment is so great that they have difficulty separating from them – over 60 years after the war has ended.
The exhibition tells the story of survival – the struggle of theses children to hold on to life. It describes their attempt to maintain their childhood and youth by creating for themselves a different reality from that which surrounded them. Children were the most fragile, the most vulnerable of victims, yet in some way they were also the strongest. They developed unique tools for survival, among them fantasy, creativity and play. We have learned that far more than a moment’s comfort and consolation was involved. Fantasy, creativity and play were the manifestations of basic instincts of survival, a prerequisite for life. In many cases, it was the children who gave their parents the encouragement and hope to continue their desperate daily fight for survival.
This exhibit, produced by Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem and traveling from the American & International Societies for Yad Vashem in New York, will remain at the Center until March 28, 2008.
