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Holocaust   
The Hidden Child
Between Two Religions
Looking at the consequences of hiding Jewish children in Christian homes and institutions during the Holocaust
First Hand Accounts
  • A Girlhood in Occupied France: A Dual Experience
    Baptism had not been easy. I felt it was a betrayal. I had nightmares that we would go to Heaven without our parents.

  • Could I Still Be A Little Catholic Deep Inside?
    By the time I went to college, there was no question of my Jewishness.  What impact did my experience with Catholicism have on me?

  • My Bear and Me
    For two-and-a-half years I posed as a Christian boy. I knew that my Jewishness was a secret that could cost me my life.  My little Bear went with me everywhere. He kept me company and kept my secret.

  • Lost Feelings
    It took until the '70s to realize that I was missing a part of myself, the me of the war with all its dark feelings buried inside.

  • A Borrowed Shadow
    What was my real identity: false names, a life in  hiding, a Jewish boy who for hours or days served as an altar boy to the priest conducting prayers in Church.

Examining the Impact of Dual Identity 

  • Conflicts of Identity
    As hidden children, our lives were dominated by two basic demands: the giving up of our Jewish identity and silence

  • Religious Transformation and Continuity
    The "self" of hidden children underwent several transformations.

  • Happy Forever After
    After World War II,  the parent's first thought was to find their hidden children or child.  They felt that, once reunited, the family could live together and be happy.  Reality was quite different

  • The Right to Forget and the Duty to Remember
    Immediately after the war, those of us who survived had one overwhelming desire: to forget that as Jews we had been singled out for special treatment.

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Related Materials
children of the holocaust
Children of the Holocaust Discussion Guide

Until recently, the story of the children of the Holocaust was rarely told. This on-line guide recounts the war-time experiences of three child survivors.
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