Nechama Tec is a  Senior Research Fellow at the Miles Lerman Center for the Study of Jewish Resistance at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC., and author of Dry Tears: The Story of a Lost Childhood, Oxford University Press, 1984, When Light Pierced the Darkness: Christian Rescue of Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland, Oxford University Press, 1986, and Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, Oxford University Press, 1993.

Although the Nazi plan of Jewish annihilation, including the murder of Jewish children, was introduced to different countries at different times and with different degrees of ruthlessness, the steps in this overall plan were essentially the same. Thus, in all European countries under the Nazi rule, the mass murder of Jews was preceded by a carefully orchestrated sequence of violation of human rights. In the first phase, laws were introduced defining who was and who was not a Jew, requiring the identification of all those who were now viewed as Jewish. Next came the expropriation of property from Jews and their removal from gainful employment. 1

The next phase began with the ejection of Jews from their homes to specially designated areas, usually sealed ghettos or transitory camps, out of sight of Christian populations. Isolation of the Jews before moving them to the death camps was a rigidly enforced part of the master plan in virtually all countries under the direct control of the Nazis. This was followed by the final mass annihilation.2

While exact numbers of the killed are elusive and existing estimates ought to be viewed with caution, they do point to an unprecedented human destruction. Prewar Europe had a Jewish population of a little less than 9 million. Initial estimates of the Jews killed during World War II amounted to 5.7 million. These figures had come from the 1945 Nuremberg trials. More recent estimates fluctuate between 5 and 6 million, with most sources citing the 6 million figure, or 67 percent.

In Nazi-occupied Europe, the prewar Jewish child population came to about 1.6 million.  Of the 6 million Jews killed, there were an estimated 1.5 million children, leaving only 6 to 7 percent of them alive at the end of the war. If to this group of child survivors are added children who were repatriated after the war from the U.S.S.R. to Poland and Romania, then the number of child survivors rises to 170,000 or 11 percent. 3

Even with this addition, the survival rate of children lags behind the survival rate of all the Jews, 11 percent children to 33 percent adults. Such differences are not surprising. Within the German plan of Jewish annihilation, children became special targets. Indeed, in line with these policies, upon reaching a concentration camp, all Jewish children were sent to their deaths. On rare occasions, a healthy-looking teenager slipped through the system. For example, from a French police roundup of Jews in July 1942, 9,000 were shipped to Auschwitz, the concentration camp in Poland. In this transport of 9,000, there were 4,000 children. After the war, of the entire group, only 30 returned.  None were children. 4

German preoccupation with the destruction of Jewish children suggests that most of the child survivors were hidden children. Efforts to protect Jewish children arose out of a battle between those who wanted to kill and those who wanted to save.  It was an uneven struggle, a struggle that left many victims and very few survivors.

In every European country under German occupation, the survival rate of children was much lower than that of the overall Jewish population. Thus, prewar Poland had an estimated 1 million Jewish children. Of these children, from infancy to age 14, an estimated 5,000, or half a percent, made it till the end of the war. 5

In Holland, Jews made up 1.6 percent of the Dutch population, which amounted to 140,000 individuals. They were relatively well integrated into the society. 6  Of the 140,000 Dutch Jews, an estimated 75 percent perished. Among the 35,000 survivors, 3,500 were children. 7

In occupied Belgium, the German army was in charge of the country and not particularly eager to destroy the Jews. Nevertheless, the army complied with the Nazi plans and, by May 1942, it began transporting Belgian Jews to concentration camps in Poland. 8  At the end of the war, of the 65,000 Belgian Jews, about 40 percent had survived. Among them were 3,000 children. 9

The situation in France was different from that of the other European countries. The Germans divided France into an occupied and an unoccupied zone. The unoccupied section had a French government known as the Vichy government. Not directly under German control, the Vichy government was unusual. Of all the Western European countries, it alone initiated and adopted virulent anti-Semitic policies. 10

In the occupied part of France, the French police were very active in rounding up Jews. Specifically too, the French police took the initiative in allocating Jewish children to convoys that were leaving for the Auschwitz concentration camp. 11

Out of 350,000 French Jews, an estimated 90,000, or 26 percent, were killed.  Figures for child survivors range from 5,000 to 15,000, with most of them identified as orphans. 12

Although Nazi-occupied European countries differed in terms of the rate of Jewish annihilation, Jewish children in all of them were confronted by overpowering, destructive forces.

What did being a hidden child mean? Who were we and how did we elude the German efforts to murder us?

For most of us, survival depended on the actions of our parents or guardians.  Very few of the hidden children, from age 10 up, had by themselves decided to move to the Christian world.

On the other hand, rarely could an entire family make an illegal move into the Christian world. Often some family members lacked the necessary physical and verbal attributes for staying in the forbidden world. Others had no possibility of finding refuge.  Still others lacked the will and determination to try. Becoming a hidden child frequently meant separation.

Once the hurdles of separation were overcome, we had to rely on the protection of Christian rescuers. All Nazi-occupied countries had some Christian rescuers. The very presence of these rescuers, just as the presence of the hidden children, expressed an opposition to the Nazi measures of Jewish annihilation.

Such help for Jewish children came from private individuals or from people connected to organizations. Private aid, through friends and acquaintances, was more common than organizational help.

Most countries, among them Belgium, Holland and Poland, had special sections of the underground that were devoted to saving Jewish children. Frequently, these sections were run jointly by Jews and Christians. Convents, monasteries and orphanages were also involved in saving Jewish children. Some of these religious institutions were connected to the resistance, others acted independently.

When making a move into the Christian world, the destinies of the Jewish children were influenced by their appearance and the extent to which this appearance conformed to the stereotypical "Jewish look."  How well they could blend socially into the new environment also made a difference. From the start, some children went into hiding. Others were passing for Christians, and some had to change from hiding to passing and back to hiding again.

For all of us, documents that identified us as Christians offered some safety.  Several kinds of papers were used. Some were manufactured illegally, bearing fictitious names. Others were duplicates of documents belonging to real people. Some papers were purchased on the black market. Others were given free of charge by different illegal organizations. Special sections of the underground manufactured, collected and distributed false papers. Parish priests were allowed to issue duplicate birth certificates, and some of them did offer such documents to Jews. However, not all Jews who stayed on the Christian side had false papers.

With or without papers, at a certain age, all hidden children had to learn many new facts to support their new identities: names, dates, places regarding not only themselves but also their fictitious relatives. Inconsistency could arouse suspicion; one slip could mean disaster.

Becoming well acquainted with one's new identity was only a small part of what a passing child had to know. Familiarity with a Christian religion was another important prerequisite for the new life. Often those suspected of being Jewish were subjected to rigorous cross-examinations. Failure to pass such tests could lead to death. Boys were in special jeopardy because in Europe Jews alone were circumcised.  A casual examination could easily reveal a male's identity. For this reason alone, passing was more dangerous for Jewish boys than for girls. 13

Hidden children contributed to their own safety by behaviors that were expected of them.  From an early age, hidden children had to give up their childhood.  While growing up fast and leaving our past behind, we had to be flexible.  An important part of this flexibility was obedience. Under no circumstances could we antagonize those who were protecting us. We needed their good will, regardless of cost.

We were not supposed to cry. We did not, at least not in front of others. We had to be grateful for what others were doing for us. Inevitably, obedience and fear led to caution. Often this took on an exaggerated form. But this was safer than acting out. As neophytes, in a strange world, we were strict conformists.

Our daily existence was also tied to two other basic requirements: giving up our Jewish identity and being silent. These two needs were closely connected. Giving up our identity meant playing a part, becoming someone else. The better we played the role, the safer we were. Sometimes we were so caught up in the new part that we actually forgot who we really were. This was temporary. Though helpful, this forgetfulness was emotionally costly. For many of us, giving up our true identity created an emotional void. It made us feel anxious, anxious that we might never recapture our past. We also felt guilty, ashamed that we were giving up what had been cherished by our parents, by those we loved.

As we played our new roles, we were totally enveloped by silence. We had to be silent about our past, about our present, about our future. Inevitably, some of us had to listen to anti-Semitic remarks. No matter how much this might hurt us, we could not object. Breaking the silence could mean death. Silence became deeply ingrained in us.

Notes to "Historical Background of the Hidden Children" 1.   Copies of these different laws are included in Raul Hilberg, ed., Documents of Destruction (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1971). 2.   Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews (New York:  New Viewpoints, 1973) pp. 257-267; Filip Friedman, "Zaglada Zydow Polskich W Latach 1939-1945" [Destruction of the Polish Jewry], Biuletyn Glownej Komisji Badania Zbrodni Niemieckiej W Polsce no. 6 (1946):  165-208. 3.   Deborah Dwork, Children With a Star (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1991), pp. 174-175 in note 27; Mordechai Paldiel, "The Rescue of Jewish Children in Poland and the Netherlands," in Alice L. Eckardt, ed., Burning Memory: Times of Testing and Reckoning (New York:  Pergamon Press, 1993), p. 120. 4.   Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York:  Holt, Rinehardt and Winston, 1975), p. 362. 5.   Dwork, Children With a Star, pp. 274-275, in note 27. 6.   Henry L. Mason, "Jews in the Occupied Netherlands," Political Science Quarterly 99, no. 2 (Summer 1984):  pp. 330-339. 7.   Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 p. 403; Josef Michman, "The Problem of the Jewish War Orphans in Holland," in She'e Rit Hapletah, 1944-1948, Rehabilitation & Struggle (Jerusalem:  Yad Vashem, 1990), p. 190. 8.   Hilberg, The Destruction of European Jews, p. 382-390. 9.   Philip Friedman, Their Brothers' Keepers (New York:  Holocaust Library, 1978), p. 69. 10.  Michael R. Marrus and Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France & the Jews (New York: Schocken Books, 1983), p. 359. 11.  Ibid., p. 265. 12.  David Weinberg, "The Reconstruction of the French Jewish Community After World War II," in She'e Rit Hapletah, 1944-1948, pp. 172-173. 13.  Nechama Tec, When Light Pierced the Darkness:  Christian Rescue of Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 27-39.

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