Life for Children During

WWII
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Across the world, children from every
Country involved in the war were as
affected by the fighting as anybody else.

Their homes might have been bombed or burned, their

fathers might be called up to fight and their mothers
perhaps went to work in factories.

For some children in mainland Europe, their countries

were occupied or fought over by foreign armies. Other
children lived with the threat of invasion.

For one group of children in particular, the war brought

a special fear. The German authorities sought out
Jewish children and sent them to their deaths in
concentration camps.
Today, we are going to find out what
life was like for children who didn’t live
in Britain during the war.

We are going to learn about 2 children

who lived in different parts of Europe
during the war and find out what their
daily life was like.
 Lets find out about
life for some
children in Germany

We already know LOTS

about Britain.
 Otto’s Story

Anne’s Story
 Anne was born on June 12th
1929 in
Frankfurt, Germany. Her
Family were Jewish and had
lived in Frankfurt all their
lives. She lived with:

Her father, Her mother, Her sister,

Otto Edith Margot
For her thirteenth
birthday, Anne received a
diary, she named it
"Kitty" which she liked
the best out of all her
presents. She loved to
write in "Kitty."
Anne loved to write
in her diary and
decorate it.
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The Frank family decided
to move from Frankfurt to
Amsterdam (which is in
the Netherlands) to stay
safe.
The happiness they found in
Holland didn’t last long.

When Germany invaded

Holland in May 1940,
there was no escape for
the Jewish people and
things became very
tough.
The Nazi’s made Jewish
people wear yellow Star
of David’s on their
clothes to identify them
as Jews.
.
It wasn’t just Anne
and the Jewish people
who had to wear
identification badges

Jewish people had to

follow strict rules. They
had to do all their
shopping between 3pm
and 5pm.
Conditions for Jewish people across Europe
became very bad. They were forced to leave
their homes to live in ghettos and many were
transported away to labour or concentration
camps.
Anne’s sister was told to
report to a labour camp as
a worker, but her family
knew that if she went,
they might never see her
again.
The Frank family decided
To go into hiding.
 They hid in a secret apartment in the
building where Mr. Frank worked.

The entrance was hidden

behind a bookcase. You
can see the stairs
behind it.

The apartment was

hidden at the top
of the building.
 This
This is
is aa view
view of
of
the
the back
back of of the
the
building
building where
where
the
the Frank
Frank family
family
hid.
hid.

The secret apartment

was up here. It was on
the top two floors and
the attic
The family packed up
their belongings and carefully
moved into the secret Annexe.

Anne chose to take her

diary and some books instead of
extra clothes.

Anne wrote in her diary almost

every day in the annexe. Kitty was
more like a friend who helped her
to cope with life during the war.
 “I hope I will be able to confide
everything to you, as I have never
been able to confide in anyone,
and I hope you will be a great
source of comfort and support.”
In total, Anne and her
family hid for more
than two years! She
longed to go out, see
her friends and talk
instead of whisper, but
she knew she was
lucky. Many other Jews
were being killed by
the Nazis.

As time went on, they

were joined by the van
Pels family and Fritz
Pfeffer who was a
dentist.
Fritz Pfeffer
 How do you think
the people survived? Question How would you
How time feel being
cooped up in the
would they get food?
same place for
2 years knowing
you could be
found any minute?

Anne took her diary

DISCUSSION: With her to the
With your talking partner I annexe.
would like you to discuss What important
these questions. thing would you
take with you?
 Victor Kugler,
Johannes Kleiman,
Miep Gies, and
Bep Voskuijl worked
with Mr Frank and kept
their secret very well.

These people kept them safe and provided

food for the hiding families even though they
knew that if they were caught hiding them
they would be severely punished by the Nazi’s.
On Friday 14th August 1944 their luck ran
out. The Nazis found their hiding place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmx_W8yCZv8&feature=related
 Anne was sent to
Auschwitz, a “death
camp” in Poland. They
shaved her hair off, made
her work and sometimes
beat her.
Her diary was left
behind.
Anne was moved to another camp called
Bergen-Belsen, where there was little
food or water but plenty of disease.
In March 1945 Anne died of disease and
hunger. She was only 15 years old.
Mr Frank was the
only person from the
annexe to survive
the war.

When the war was

over, he found
Anne’s diary.

He made sure Anne’s diary was published in

memory of her so everyone could remember
her story.
Otto was born in
1930 in Munich,
Germany.
He had a happy childhood with his loving family.
 Things became hard for Otto and his family once
Hitler gained power.

Otto was no longer allowed to play with his Jewish friends.

The Nazi party actively recruited German children to become
part of the Hitler Youth. At first the group was quite small,
but once Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the group began

to grow.
In 1936 Hitler made it mandatory
for all children from the age of 10
to become members of the Hitler
Youth. The following year the group
began training the boys in the use
of rifles. The boys, and later girls,
were sent to fight for the Reich.
 "My program for educating youth is hard.
Weakness must be hammered away. In my
castles of the Teutonic Order a youth will
grow up before which the world will tremble.
I want a brutal, domineering, fearless, cruel
youth. Youth must be all that. It must bear
pain. There must be nothing weak and gentle
about it.”
-1933

Hitler wanted
complete control.
In 1945, American soldiers
reported fighting against entire
units of Germans comprised of
soldiers twelve years old and
younger. Once these children
were sent into combat, they
often fought to the death.
Hitler used propaganda
posters to make the Hitler
youth look like fun.
When he turned 10 years old, Otto
was forced to join the Hitler Youth
(Hitler Jungen).

He was sent away

from his family to
be put through very
intense, hard
military training.
Although the boys' groups
were the largest, there were
two girls' groups.

The Jungmadel for 10-14

year-olds and Bund Deutcher
Madel for 14-18 year-olds.

The girls were taught typical

roles such as raising children
and working in the home. In
addition, they worked as
nurses for those who were
injured during the war.
Lets listen to a clip of some Hitler
youth’s describing what they did.
Otto hated his time in the Hitler Youth.
When he was an old man, he said:
“We didn’t know what we were
doing was wrong. We were just
children. To think that we were
part of such an awful thing is
just beyond me.
For all children, no matter which
side they belonged to, the war
robbed them of education and a
normal, happy life.
 The Hitler Youth Anthem
Unsere Fahne flattert uns voran
(Our banner flutters before us)
Unsere Fahne ist die neue Zeit
(Our banner represents the new era)
Und die Fahne führt uns in die Ewigkeit!
(And our banner leads us to eternity!)
Ja, die Fahne ist mehr als der Tod
(Yes, our banner means more to us than
death)