Katrina+2

**Children of the Holocaust: General Information **  Throughout history, our world has had many joyful times and hard times, but one of the hardest times on record was the Holocaust. Germans killed millions of people and a large number of those victims were children. The Germans (Nazis) targeted Jews, Romani (Gypsy), Polish, and even German children with disabilities. Nazis believed these people were a disgrace to the human race and did not deserve to live.

10,000-1,000 of the 1.5million total children, were hidden, not caught, and survived. A large majority of the hidden children were hidden in Poland or Belgium. All Jews were targeted for death, and the rate for children was especially high: 6-11% of 1.7million Jews under the age of 16 were alive in 1939 and survived WWII, in other words, 1.5 million young Jews were killed during the Holocaust; 33% of the Adults survived.
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  **Fates:** Fates of the children were harsh and most ended with death. During the Holocaust children were considered unproductive and "useless eaters," (the Germans said) because most children were too young to be forced into labor camps and put to work. Therefore, a majority of these children would be immediately put into gas chambers or shot at the edge of mass graves, which became the fate of thousands. Children would be also sent to killing centers immediately after birth or in institutions. Some survived because they were born in ghettos and camps and prisoners hid them till the end of the war. Children over age 12 were used as laborers and subjects of medical experiments; or killed during reprisal and anti-partisan operations. Masses of children died from starvation, sickness, exposure (which led to sickness), and lack of good clothing and shelter in concentration camps.   