Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks: Memories of Jewish Schoolchildren During the Holocaust
The Nazi rise to power in 1933 — six years before World War II began — meant big changes in the daily lives of Jews. The government adopted laws and policies that increasingly restricted the rights of Jews — including students and teachers.
Jewish teachers were forced from their jobs at German public schools. German teachers joined the Nazi Party in greater numbers than any other profession. They were required to teach obedience to state authority and to glorify Hitler and the Nazi Party. By the end of 1938, Jewish children had been expelled from German public schools.
As Nazi Germany invaded countries across Europe, similar discriminatory laws were put in place. Open antisemitism at school became the norm and was integrated into the curriculum.
Before they were completely barred from school, Jewish schoolchildren encountered a range of responses to their situation. Some students were unpleasantly surprised when teachers and friends turned against them. Others found support. Those who survived the Holocaust have vivid memories of these changes in their lives at school. Here, five Holocaust survivors share their experiences as students in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Rosa Marx: “I just was zero”
When Rosa, a Jewish student in Austria, returned her school books to her teacher, she was surprised to be met with disdain from someone she admired. Students who were once her friends ignored her.
Hannah Altbush: “They were with us”
The day after Kristallnacht, a night of attacks against Jewish people and businesses in Germany in November 1938, Hannah insisted on going back to school. There, she was met with support and gifts from her non-Jewish classmates.
Emma Mogilensky: “They beat us up”
Emma and her brother were beaten up by other students on their way into school one morning in Germany. When she told her teacher about it, he replied, “Well, what did you expect you dirty Jew?”
Irene Adler: “I was so proud of myself”
Irene discusses an incident at her school in Hungary where a teacher hit her on the shoulder because she, a Jew, had dared to answer a question.
Henri Wittlesohn: ”I have to trust somebody”
Henri attended a Catholic school in Belgium with false papers identifying him as a Catholic student. On the day of a surprise police search at his school, one of Henri’s teachers helped him avoid being caught.
Alison Kitchens and Paul Rose in the Museum Experience and Digital Media Division at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum compiled these testimonies.
