-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Laura Auketayeva, Jewish Refugee Children in the Soviet Interior: Voices from Tempelhof Camp, 1946–1947: Exploring Polish Jewish Children’s Testimonies amidst Holocaust Displacement, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 39, Issue 1, Spring 2025, Pages 77–96, https://doi.org/10.1093/hgs/dcaf007
Close - Share Icon Share
Abstract
This article focuses on Polish Jewish refugee children’s accounts written between 1945 and 1947 in a German Displaced Persons (DP) camp, which describe their lives in the Soviet Union during the war. Children’s accounts often depicted a loss of childhood in having to, at times, take on adult roles in providing and caring for family members. Through these writings, many children articulated key aspects of their identities when reflecting on their family’s lives during the war. Furthermore, children’s identities were structured by awareness of their Jewishness in relation to antisemitic encounters with local children in the Soviet Union. This contributed to Jewish refugee children’s desire to strengthen their Jewish identity and belonging, as evidenced by children’s narratives of a future in Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), where they hoped to be Jewish without fear and build a new home.
