Child survivors of the Holocaust : the youngest remnant and the American experience

The majority of European Jewish children alive in 1939 were murdered during the Holocaust. Of 1.5 million children, only an estimated 150,000 survived. In the aftermath of the Shoah, efforts by American Jews brought several thousand of these child survivors to the United States. In __Child Survivors of the Holocaust__, historian Beth B. Cohen weaves together survivor testimonies and archival documents to bring their story to light. She reveals that even as child survivors were resettled and “saved,” they struggled to adapt to new lives as members of adoptive families, previously unknown American Jewish kin networks, or their own survivor relatives. Nonetheless, the youngsters moved ahead. As Cohen demonstrates, the experiences both during and after the war shadowed their lives and relationships through adulthood, yet an identity as “survivors” eluded them for decades. Now, as the last living link to the Holocaust, the voices of Child Survivors are finally being heard. "The majority of European Jewish children alive in 1939 were murdered during the Holocaust. Of 1.5 million children, only an estimated 150,000 survived. In the aftermath of the Shoah, efforts by American Jews brought several thousand of these child survivors to the United States. In Child Survivors of the Holocaust, historian Beth B. Cohen weaves together survivor testimonies and archival documents to bring their story to light. She reveals that even as child survivors were resettled and "saved," they struggled to adapt to new lives as members of adoptive families, previously unknown American Jewish kin networks, or their own survivor relatives. Nonetheless, the youngsters moved ahead. As Cohen demonstrates, the experiences both during and after the war shadowed their lives and relationships through adulthood, yet an identity as "survivors" eluded them for decades. Now, as the last living link to the Holocaust, the voices of Child Survivors are finally being heard."--Publisher's description Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acronyms 10 Prologue 12 Introduction 16 Chapter 1. Liberation: Battles after the War 27 Chapter 2. “Our Greatest Treasures”: America Responds 48 Chapter 3. In America: War Orphans Find Home 65 Chapter 4. No Happy Endings: Postwar Reconstituted Families 84 Chapter 5. Growing Up in America: Lingering Memories and the US Context 103 Chapter 6. Where Was God?: Child Survivors and Jewish Identity 127 Chapter 7. “Finding a Voice for Our Silence”: Claiming Identity as Child Survivors 146 Conclusion. The Road to Repair 166 Epilogue 178 Acknowledgments 180 Notes 184 Bibliography 214 Index 222 About the Author 230 Liberation: my hell began after the war -- Our greatest treasures: America responds -- In America: war orphans find home -- No happy endings: postwar reconstituted families -- Growing up in America: lingering memories and the US context -- Where was God? Faith and doubt among child survivors -- Finding a voice for our silence: claiming identity as child survivors -- Conclusion: memory is the arena of healing: the road to repair Over ninety percent of Europe's 1.5 million Jewish children were murdered during the Holocaust, but a tiny fragment of about 150,000 children survived. Cohen traces the postwar lives of these children, shedding new light on the way their experiences and perceptions both during and after the war shadowed and shaped their lives through adulthood