Children of the Holocaust Essay -- Slaughter of Children, Nazi Extermi

One of the most extraordinary aspects of Nazi genocide was the unheated deliberate intention to kill children in numbers so huge that in that location is no historical precedent for it. (Lukas, 13 Kindle) About 1.5 billion children were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaustone million being killed because they were Jews (ushmm.org) The Germans had a clearly defined goal of killing the Jewish children so that there would be no remnants of their run away to reproduce, expirying in extinction. Not only were the children that were victimized in the Holocaust persecuted and murdered, but they were all stripped of their childhood. Children were non allowed to be childrenthey had to, for their own survival, be adults. The oppression of children because of race was a direct result of Hitlers cruel policies and beliefs. In order to stifle the Jewish race from growing, the children were the first to be slaughtered at extermination camps (ushmm.org). Through selection at the exter mination camps, the Nazis forced children to be separated from their relatives which destroyed the basic unit of measurement of society, the family. Because children were taken to different barracks or camps, they had to fend for themselves. In the book A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal, the author describes the relief he felt when reunited with his mother after the struggle. Thomas writesI felt that a tremendous burden had been lifted from my shoulders and put on hers now Mutti was once again responsible for meUntil then, I had been responsible for my own life, for my survival I could not afford to depend on anyone but myself I had to think and symbolise like a grown-up and be constantly on the alert against all possible dangers. But once I was back in her arms, I could be a child again, le... ...ich were all Nazi-induced (ushmm.org). The experiences of the children in the Holocaust instigate society of the innocence of youth and the cruelty in exposing them to horror at an early age. Works Cited Buergenthal, Thomas. A Lucky Child A biography of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy. New York Little, Brown, 2009. Lukas, Richard C. Did the Children Cry? Hitlers War against Jewish and Polish Children, 1939-1945. New York Hippocrene, 1994. Remember Me? Holocaust Children Talk of Survival. Dir. unite States Holocaust Museum. Perf. Nathan Kranowski. Xfinity Video. Comcast. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. http//xfinity.comcast.net/video/remember-me-holocaust-children-talk-of-survival/2085065960United States Holocaust Museum. Children During the Holocaust. United States Holocaust memorialisation Museum. 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.http//www.ushmm.org