Hidden Children

Hidden Children , or sometimes "Hidden Children of the Holocaust," is the term that describes the (mainly Jewish) children who, during the Holocaust, were hidden in various different ways, in order to save them from the Nazis. Not all the attempts to save them were successful, see for instance the story of Anne Frank.

In section 2, we describe these different ways. But first we present an official recognition that these hidden children, precisely because they were children, suffered a special extra trauma:

The extreme extra trauma suffered by these Hidden Children has been recognized in a most remarkable fashion. The German Government, through the Claims Conference, has arranged to make a symbolic payment of 2,500 Euros to each such Hidden Child.) And see section (3) below for more details of such trauma.

1) a child who was actually hidden with at least one of his parents, in some physical location, such as a secret attic. The family would need at least one outside non-Jewish "helper," who brought daily food and other supplies. The lives of the helpers were in extreme danger if the Nazis were to find out this deception, since then they themselves would all be murdered.

2) a child who was "hidden" in a convent, as-if one of the other regular Catholic children. The child would have to be able to behave as all the other Catholic convent children behaved - know his prayers, know how to handle a rosary, know how to behave during mass, etc. All these skills the child would have to learn very fast. In this case, at least one of the nuns, and generally more, would have to know that the child was actually Jewish and "hiding." Once again, the lives of the nuns were in extreme danger if the Nazis were to find out this deception.

3) a child who, during the Holocaust, was placed into the care of a "foster-family," usually Catholic, and raised as-if one of the family. To explain the sudden "arrival" of this "new" child into the family, he might for instance be described as a cousin who had come to join this family, perhaps from the countryside. Since he was now a new member of this Catholic family, he too would have to be able to behave as other Catholic children behaved - know his prayers, know how to handle a rosary, know how to behave during mass, etc. Once again, the lives of the true family-members were in extreme danger if the Nazis were to find out this deception.

Some such "foster-family" children were only babies at the time they were "placed" with a foster-family, others only toddlers or else still very young.

The experience of these "foster-family" Hidden Children is very similar to that of the One Thousand Children (see particularly the section "Holocaust Child Survivors and Hidden Children,..."). In that section, and the previous section "Emotional and Practical Effects" (in OTC), these similarities and differences are very importantly compared and contrasted.

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