Taking Role of an Adult
For many children, survival meant taking on adult roles. Children worked in workshops, street markets, and even engaged in smuggling goods across ghetto boundaries to sustain their families. Street trading became common, with children selling goods like bread, cigarettes, and newspapers. The most daring and vital were the child smugglers, who risked their lives daily to bring food from the ‘Aryan’ side into the ghetto. Their efforts were not just acts of survival but acts of heroism, as they fed not only their families but, as Ludwik Hirszfeld observed, often sustained the entire ghetto population.
Yet, despite the horrors surrounding them, Jewish communities made efforts to maintain education and normalcy for their children, who were often viewed as the future of their people. In clandestine schools, hidden away from German eyes, children in places like Warsaw and Białystok ghettos were taught in secret, embodying resilience and the fierce will to preserve their heritage, even as their very existence was under constant threat.
Not a Priority vs. Moral Resistance
Education, however, was not a priority for German-Nazi authorities. Official schooling for Jewish children was either severely restricted or banned altogether. Yet, even in the face of these prohibitions, Jewish teachers, parents, and community leaders risked their lives to organize secret lessons, often held in cramped apartments or basements. As Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum noted, ‘The effort to teach and learn was a moral resistance in itself.’
As survivors like Samuel Pisar and Sara Nomberg-Przytyk later recalled, reflecting a resilient community striving to protect children’s minds, even as their bodies were trapped in the horrors of the ghetto. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of children could access this underground education.
Clandestine Education: A Light in the Darkness
Despite the horrors, a spirit of learning persisted. In the Białystok ghetto, for instance, formal schools existed until 1942, with two institutions providing education to approximately 2,100 students. One school, an Orthodox institution, taught 500 students in Hebrew and Polish. The other, a co-educational school, educated 1,600 children, often in three shifts to accommodate the overcrowding. However, by 1942, the formal schools were shut down, and education moved underground. This form of secret schooling was driven by a belief in the importance of preserving Jewish culture and identity, even under the threat of extermination.
Teachers like Sara Nomberg-Przytyk organized home-based schools, teaching boys from the neighbourhood. Similarly, Samuel Pisar, who later became a renowned international lawyer, described how he was taught by a rabbi in clandestine settings. This underground education was not just about imparting academic knowledge; it was a form of spiritual and cultural resistance.
Intellectual and Spiritual Resistance
The idea of educating children in the ghettos was deeply tied to the concept of survival, not just in the physical sense, but in the preservation of identity and culture. Teaching children about Jewish history, literature, and tradition was a way of resisting the German effort to dehumanize them. By learning Hebrew, literature, and mathematics, children were instilled with a sense of hope and continuity
In the ghettos, cultural and religious life persisted alongside education. Many families continued to celebrate Jewish holidays, and cultural life flourished in underground settings, with plays, concerts, and religious ceremonies being held in secret. For children, these moments offered a brief escape from the brutal realities of ghetto life and reminded them that they were part of something larger than the walls of the ghetto.
The Fight for Childhood
In November 1941, in the Kraków ghetto, a remarkable initiative called ‘Children’s Month’ was organized by Jewish social workers and the Jewish Municipal Welfare Committee. This event, which sought to raise funds for institutions caring for children, became an essential effort as winter approached. The concept of ‘Children’s Month’ was not new; it had been successfully implemented before the war and even during the occupation in other ghettos like Warsaw.
The campaign was promoted through the German-controlled ‘Gazeta Żydowska,’ with appeals that tugged at the readers' consciences, urging generosity to ensure children received vital care. At that time, orphans and children from impoverished families in the ghetto were in dire need of resources such as clothing, food, and shelter. The funds raised during the events were aimed at providing essentials, especially warm clothing and food, for the harsh winter months.
Concerts, lotteries, and artistic performances were among the activities used to gather donations. The initiative, while not sufficient to save all the children, demonstrated the deep communal commitment to care for the most vulnerable, even as the world around them collapsed.
The Impact of the Holocaust to Children of the Ghetto
For children, the experience of growing up in a ghetto during the Holocaust left deep psychological scars. Justyna Kowalska-Leder, a scholar of Holocaust studies, notes that the dominant emotion in children's memories of the Holocaust was fear. Hunger, disease, and constant threat of deportation made every day a battle for survival. The psychological impact of these experiences shaped the way survivors remembered and processed their pasts.
Many child survivors of the Holocaust struggled with trauma and the loss of family. As one survivor noted, ‘Fear was constant, more than hunger, more than cold. The fear of being discovered, of being taken away, never left us.’ This ever-present fear, combined with the destruction of families, left many children with profound feelings of loneliness and isolation.
A Legacy of Resilience
The stories of children in the ghettos, from clandestine schooling to acts of defiance, highlight the resilience of Jewish communities during one of history's darkest periods. The education they received, though incomplete and dangerous, became a form of intellectual and spiritual resistance. These children, robbed of their childhoods, fought back in the only ways they could—by learning, remembering, and surviving.
In their memories, these survivors carried the legacy of those who perished, ensuring that the world would not forget the atrocities committed against them. Their resilience in the face of such overwhelming horror remains a powerful testament to the human spirit’s capacity for survival and defiance. The education of children in the ghettos was not only a means of survival but also an assertion of identity in the face of erasure. It was an act of courage, a quiet rebellion against a regime that sought to destroy their futures.
References:
Dawidowicz, G., Dzieci białostockiego getta: historia, losy, świadectwa, 2021
Kiedy dziecko przejmuje rolę dorosłego … dzieci w getcie warszawskim (Muzeum Getta Warszawskiego)
„Miesiąc Dziecka” w getcie krakowskim (Przystanek Historia)