Did the Children Cry: Hitler's War Against Jewish and Polish Children, 1939-45

by Richard C. Lukas

Based on eye-witness accounts, interviews, and prodigious research by the author, who is an expert in the field, this is a unique contribution to the literature of World War II, and a most compelling account of German inhumanity towards children in occupied Poland.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

263 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

About the author

An American historian and author of numerous books and articles on Polish history and Polish-Jewish relations

Reviews

[Reader]

I'm a highschool student who has been studying the Holocaust and world war 2 almost my entire life. I think this book is extremely sad and hurtful, expecially hearing about the mothers who would abuse their own kids just to not be found by the German. It's a good read though it gives a larger insight

[bob drongowski]

Disturbing

How anyone could kill children is beyond me. The horror depicted in this book is truly epic in scope. Can’t sleep well after reading this book.

[Wanda]

This is a short and fast read, albeit one that is not for the fainthearted. It is the story of the systematic destruction of the bulk of a generation of Polish Gentile and Polish Jewish children by the Nazis. It is difficult reading insofar as the descriptions of the creative ways that the Nazis discovered to torment and murder innocent children defies comprehension. Ideology or not, it remains difficult for me to understand how one can kill an innocent child. Killing them in such numbers is truly unfathomable: 1,800,00 children (1.2 million Gentile and 600,000 Jewish).
I really did not learn much except the scope of the slaughter of children from this book. Lukas repeats some of the narrative that he wrote in The Forgotten Holocaust, almost word for word. So that was a bit disappointing.
What was quite surprising to me was that I found mention of my mother, her fiance, and the youngster who made up their little trio of saboteurs/couriers in the Sokol battalion during the Warsaw Uprising. The reference was unmistakeable, as he referred to them by name, but the translation from the original Polish reference was not well articulated. I don't know if he used Google translator or just a bad human translator, because the translation was pretty concrete and with better interpretation could have been a bit more comprehensible.
All in all, this is a book that really does not add that much to the repertoire of WW II literature or to the Holocaust literature. Lifton and other Holocaust writers have dealt with this subject already, although admittedly they did conflate the Gentile and Jewish numbers. The fact that Lukas broke them out and discussed the context for the deaths of each set of children is the value of this small book.

[Simon]

Despite the lugubrious title, this is a well-done, terse and brutal account of a horrific subset of both the Holocaust and the general occupation of Poland during World War II. Lukas wants to ensure that the murder of Polish children is included as well as the systematic destruction of their Jewish counterparts, although he is careful to delineate the difference in intent that lay behind each action. If the book has a fault, it is its relative brevity, and perhaps Lukas' skirting of the troubled state of Polish/Jewish relationships before the outbreak of the war. He is determined to demonstrate that there was a significant amount of help rendered to Polish Jews by their gentile countrymen, and to some extent, he succeeds (the majority of those honored in Israel as Righteous Gentiles are Polish).

[Gregg Harcus]

Interesting Historu

I found it from a historical perspective. Amazing how many Poles risked their lives to protect Jewish children. I also found it how much distrust there was between Jews and Poles.

[FSU Alumni]

Richard C. Lukas (B.A. '57, M.A. '60, Ph.D. '63)