Childhood Innocence

Above portrays a drawing from a child and their interpretation of the Shoah. This drawing exemplifies how the Shoah stripped many children from their childhood innocence.

“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left—in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.” - Anne Frank

As I walked through the bunkers at Auschwitz I, I felt chills as I looked at photos of small children and their families. As humans, we selfishly have the tendency to think of our own lives during tragedies. As I walked throughout Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II- Birkenau, I thought my little siblings: the people who mean the most to me. It is so difficult to imagine how the Nazis chose the evil side. How could these humans treat other humans in such a way? I asked myself this as I walked through the bunkers and could not wrap my head around these atrocities. As soon as the Jews were taken to Auschwitz II- Birkenau, they faced selection. Here, families were torn apart and lives were changed forever. Mothers had to make terrible decisions whether to go with their children to the gas chambers or to better their chances at selection by leaving their children.

As I approached the exhibit full of children’s shoes, my heart broke for the millions of children and families who had to experience the unimaginable. Next to this stood a glass exhibit box that contained clothes from some of the suitcases. Here lied a little girl’s sweater, a sneaker, some socks, and a boot. I could not help, but imagine the people who these precious items belonged to. A little girl, perhaps, who enjoyed playing with dolls or had dreams of being a teacher. These precious items symbolize how pure and innocent their lives were. I cannot fathom the cruel and inhumane conditions they experienced or how they felt when were separated from their mothers, siblings, grandparents, etc. As the days in Poland have passed rather quickly, I find myself thinking about these children more and more every day.

As these children experienced such cruel and inhumane punishment, I also think about the children who went into hiding. The children who were again separated from their parents and forced to conform to a completely different lifestyle. Stan Ronell, a survivor of the Shoah, who visited Iona College and told his story of how he went into hiding with his mother when the war began. They were hidden in many different houses throughout the war where he stayed in a small, dark closet with two books to read. Luckily for him, one of these books contained Christian prayers which allowed him to expand on his “act” and survive the war. Mr. Ronell’s story reminded me of Alexander Donat’s son, Wlodek, as his story was quite similar in the novel, The Holocaust Kingdom. Wlodek was a three-year-old boy who was brought in by a local Polish friend and cared for throughout the war in hiding. Wlodek learned Christian prayers, got rid of his Yiddish accent, and lived a “typical” Christian life to deceive those around him. This is what saved his life and allowed him to be reunited with his mother and father after the war. These stories exemplify what most survivors suggest that allowed them to survive the Shoah: youth, health, and luck.

I will never understand how these atrocities took place. However, I can remember those innocent children and adults were affected and keep their stories close in my heart. As I left Auschwitz I on Monday, I left the grounds many people prayed to run free from. And for them, I walk forward into my future with the knowledge to share some of their stories and prevent this kind of evil from ever existing again.

The above photo further represents the innocence that was stolen from many children throughout the Shoah. Families were ripped apart, and the drawing above exemplifies the absence that many children and parents faced.