Jewish Children In Germany

To what extent and in what ways were the daily lives of Jewish children in Germany affected by Hitler’s Germany?

By Amaia Imaz Blanco, 10F

The effects of Hitler’s Germany on Jewish children in Germany is a topic of great importance to the history of World War II for many reasons. Hitler’s Germany was the cause and fuel of World War II and so studying it is of great importance, Jewish people were one of the most (if not the most) affected groups of people since they were strongly hated by Hitler. He believed that they were to blame for the losses of Germany in World War I and that they were of an inferior race to the Aryan German. Strangely, he believed that they were trying to take over the world. Of course, there were other groups affected
They were changing in all aspects; school, friends and generally everything. School for them was one of the first things that changed. Firstly, in 1934, all children, including Jews, were getting taught anti-semitic views at school and a few years later they were banned from going to German schools at all. German kids were getting taught Nazi ideology at school, thus increasing the hate against Jews from a young age. “Textbooks were rewritten in line with Nazi ideology leading to Jews becoming the subject of increased anti-semitism” (“Education: The Jewish Experience”). Relationships with their friends also began to change, in 1934 they stopped being allowed to sit next to their Aryan German friends on park benches or busses. Since all German kids were taught anti-semitic views at school their Aryan German friends often became wary of them and they lost a lot of friends. Their general daily lives were already drastically changing as the violence against Jews greatly increased and they had to be careful wherever they went. A lot of Jewish families were having to flee Germany which turned the childrens worlds upside down making their daily lives a lot harder. They were mocked and refused of basic privileges and rights everywhere, e.g. the night of the broken glass in November 1938. In conclusion, before the war even started the lives of Jewish children
A lot of them that were the kids of Hitler’s political opponents were killed to prevent further trouble. Some 13 to 18 year old Jews were taken into harsh forced labour to keep them under control. Jewish families continued to make attempts to flee Germany because living there became too dangerous and inconsistent for them. Until 1941, the Nazi policy encouraged the Jewish families to emigrate. But after October 1941, they were banned from emigrating, there was a heavy tax on emigration and the amount of money that was allowed to be transferred from german banks abroad was restricted. This meant, that if they managed to emigrate they would be left in poverty. With a program called Kindertransport, German Jewish children were taken into the UK alone. This meant that thousands of children had to leave their families behind in a dangerous country. The vast majority of Jews that were still in Germany after October 1941 were murdered during the Holocaust. The biggest effect on the Jewish children was leaving their families and childhoods behind. They were often sent out of the country or even the continent by their parents, sent to live with non-Jewish children or went to live in makeshift camps in forest. In conclusion, their lives became near impossible or even ended a lot of times once the war