Children+in+Hiding

Children in Hiding  When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, jews, gypsies, and even the disabled community were immediately targeted. The jewish relgion, however, was extremely targeted. In 1942 the Nazi Party was in the process of finishing their plan called the "final solution." This was a major genocide event where the Nazis had the idea to exterminate all jews. Suprisingly, most of the jews living in German-occupied Europe, never actually went into hiding. Going into hiding was a tough desicion for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons was that first you must find a family that will be your "rescuer." Most of the time these families would not take more than one person, so this ment leaving behind your relatives and loved ones for long periods of time. But if you were to hide, and someone found out, you risked immediate harsh punnishment. For some jews, it wasn't a matter of finding somewhere to hide, it was a matter of getting false identity papers. Getting false identity papers made it possible for jews to stay out of hiding and danger by pretending they were "Aryans". Certain Jewsish people, however; could only do this because, if you looked jewish, or could not pass as an Aryan, you weren't able to create a false identity. Having these papers ment you could live openly. But the jewish children had to be very discreet about their secret. For if at school(for the little time jews were aloud to attened school) or anywhere in the city, someone found out that they created a false identity, they too would have an immediate punnishment. The little amount of children who went into hiding didnt always have it easy. Within a researched study it concluded that 80% of hidden children were treated well. While the other 20% were either mistreated or treated very badly by their rescuers. Sometimes the children had to endure physical or sexual abuse while hiding. Children were kept in basements, cellars, and attics, where even the slightest noise resulted poorly. Often the children had to stay motionless for hours on end, suffering from extreme boredom and often times starvation. The children even asked their rescuers if they could keep a diary in order to maintain occupied during these times of struggle. But considering this to be a major risk, most never got the chance. This was a risk to the person writing within the diary as well as to friends or relatives that may be talked about inside the work. If the journal were to be found, and read, it would reveal the names and event of the family, putting them at the risk of death.

Read the real stories that hide behind cellar doors [|Hidden Children: Their Stories]

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