Where Did Jews Hide During the Holocaust?

By: Kelsi Brinkmeyer. ;D

During the holocaust , Jews built extensive hideouts called bunkers, hid in attics, basements, closets, secret rooms, or anywhere else they could find. If a Jew had a friend with open space that was willing to take them in, they would hide there. They couldn’t let anyone else know where they were going, and couldn’t come out, ever (unless they wanted to get caught)

Where they could hide

Parents, children, and rescuers faced challenges once the decision was made to go into hiding. Some children could pass as non-Jews and live openly. Those who could not had to live clandestinely, often in attics or cellars. Children posing as Christians had to carefully conceal their Jewish identity from neighbors, classmates, informers, blackmailers, and the police. Even a momentary lapse in language or behavior could expose the child, and the rescuer, to danger.

Going into hiding:

Sometimes children could pass as non-Jews. It was very difficult, but possible. If you wanted to pass as an “Aryan”, you had to get false identity papers, most likely from someone of the anti-Nazi resistance. These papers were forged or acquired, such as a birth or baptismal certificate . These ruses posed great risks to the bearer since the Germans and collaborating police forces closely examined identity documents in their frequent searches for Jews.

Passing as a non-Jew:

Not all Jewish children could pass as “Aryans” and enjoy relative freedom of movement on the outside. Those who “looked Jewish,” did not speak the local language, or whose presence in a rescuer's family raised too many questions had to be physically hidden. Children were kept in cellars and attics, where they had to keep quiet, even motionless, for hours on end. In rural areas, hidden children lived in barns, chicken coops, and forest huts. Any noise, conversation, or footsteps could bring neighbors' suspicion and even prompt a police raid.

Life in hiding

Thousands of Jewish children survived the Holocaust because they were protected by people of other faiths. Many Catholic convents in Poland independently took in Jewish children. Belgian Catholics hid hundreds of children in their homes, schools, and orphanages, and French Protestant townspeople in and around Le Chambon-sur-Lignon sheltered several thousand Jews. In Albania and Yugoslavia, some Muslim families concealed them.

Friends of other faiths

Children quickly learned to master the prayers and rituals of their “adopted” religion in order to keep their Jewish identity a secret, even from their closest friends. Many Jewish children were baptized into Christianity, with or without the consent of their parents

An adopted religion

If you've ever played hide and seek, you will know how it feels to be hiding and to have a seeker really close to you. Now imagine that if the seeker finds you, you don't just become "it" you and the people hiding you will more than likely lose their lives. Only, your hiding for much longer.

The number of Jews found varied greatly. It depended on how trustworthy their friends on the outside were, and it was greatly up to chance as well. Imagine this..

Number of Jews found.

This is Anne Frank. She was 13 when she went into hiding, and was 15 when her and her family got caught. Anne is very famous. Why? She kept a journal the whole time, and made daily entries. Her journal was left behind when the police took her.

So, overall, Jews had it rough during the holocaust. Very little made it out alive, but the ones who did probably made it because they were in hiding most of the time.

THE END