Kinderlager: An Oral History of Young Holocaust Survivors

by Milton J. Nieuwsma

As time begins to silence the first-person voices of older survivors, this account of the experiences of three young girls, one of them possibly the youngest survivor of the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, comes as a powerful witness to the Holocaust. Tova Friedman, Frieda Tenenbaum, and Rachel Hyams all came from the same small town in Poland. After a series of ghettos and forced labor camps, all three girls were transported to Auschwitz with their mothers and for a time were together in the Kinderlager barracks-the children's section. By a twist of fate, when the final Nazi cry of "Alle Juden raus!" echoed through the camp, each of the girls was hidden by her mother instead of joining what was for many a death march. On January 27, 1945, the date of their liberation and, subsequently, the date celebrated by the three women as their "birthday, " Tova was six years old, Frieda was ten, and Rachel was seven. Nieuwsma, a journalist, assembles the sometimes brutal oral histories of these women from childhood through liberation and the aftermath of displaced persons camps, the often futile search for scraps of information about surviving family, and the difficult decision to emigrate. In the story of each woman's adult life, there is a resurgence of hidden memory and post-traumatic stress; Tova speaks of "existential loneliness" during every holiday, Rachel of her never-ending search for "missing pieces, " and Frieda recalls that "if you cried in the war you were dead...But I can do it now, and it's a precious thing." The photographs of these women with their children and grandchildren are a testament to their strength and to the capacity of the human spirit to survive. Their intenselymoving stories are a remarkable gift of insight to the Holocaust years and its implications for all of us.

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, History, Biography, World War II, Historical

161 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jacob Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the book Kinderlager by Milton J. Nieuwsma is about The Holocaust and in a point of view of three younger girls. Tova Friedman, Frieda Tenenbaum, and Rachel Hyams is a young girl that has just moved into a city in Poland. This story shows the point of view of three young girls who has survived the holocaust and the camps. Tova Friedman, Frieda Tenenbaum, and Rachel Hyams all came from the same small town in Poland. They have been threw alot of ghettos and forced labor camps, all three girls were transported to Auschwitz with their mothers and for a time were together in Kinderlager located in the separate part of the children section. When The Nazis yelled out through the camps, "Alle Juden raus!" (translates to “All Jews out”) echoed through the camp, the three girls ran to their mothers and hid with them while they watch all the rest of the Jews, what seemed like a death march to different death camps and were experimented on and killed. On January 27, 1945, the date of the three girls birthday, Tova was six, Frieda was ten, and Rachel was seven. Nieuwsma a journalist, tells the stories of the lives of these women from childhood and the horror of the displaced persons camps, the often futile search for things of information about a surviving family, and the difficult decision to emigrate. In the story of each woman's adult life, there is a hidden memory and post-traumatic stress; Tova speaks of "existential loneliness" which basically means that she was very lonely everyday of the war and she had hardly ever seen Rachel or Tova. During every holiday Rachel would search for missing pieces of her life. Frieda re tells one of the most horrible parts of being a child in the labor camps, “if you ever cried in the war, you would be killed. But i can do it now, and it's a precious thing.” The photographs of women with their children and grandchildren are a big part of their strength and they wanted to survive but ever more they wanted their children to survive this war so they could tell everyone what has happened to them when they were little. Their very intense and scary stories is a thing you will rarely see anywhere else. This book tells the scariest of stories of little children and how they survived The Holocaust. What I like about this book is, I never liked reading but now I read this book and I actually really enjoy it, I also like how it’s about history, and lastly I like how it gives descriptive information and details on what happened and how they survived the war as younger girls. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy history, people who like gory & scary stories, and lastly I would recommend this book to people who like first person point of view on books.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kinderlager: An Oral History of Toung Holocaust Survivors is by Milton J. Nieuwsma. The Kinderlager in Auschwitz is a topic that many do not know about and one which is rarely mentioned. It was located next to the barracks of the twins which Mengele had chosen to do experiments on. It was next to the Gypsy camp and across from Crematorium III. The children here were witnesses to the unloading and selections from Spring 1944 on the spur into the camp as well as to the lines of those chosen for the selections. The children were separated from their parents, although rarely they could see them and visit with them.
This book is about three young girls who survived the Kinderlager. Tova Friedman, Frieda Tenenbaum, and Rachel Hyams had shared this experience together. They told their stories to Milton J. Nieuwsma and along with research, he tells their stories. Clearly these young girls were among the very fortunate as the overwhelmingly majority off children were immediately murdered on entering the camp.
The book is written in such a manner to be able to be read by middle school students. It is easily understood and graphic material and language is avoided. The book is very useful in teaching the Holocaust.

[DanielandBrenna Capon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one day because it was so compelling. Tragic, unbelievable, heartbreaking; trying to imagine one of my children enduring and recounting life in concentration camps. It needs to be read so it isn't repeated.

[Dawn Brinks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. A very emotionally heavy book that is quite descriptive of what happened to 3 young children during the Holocaust.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be must reading in High Schools. We need to know our history so it does not repeat it self.

[Krystina king- taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book I would choose to read just by the title but this book is very interesting. It is written by Holocaust survivors and the way they vividly explain and recall the terrible events that happened to them was very expressive. They really brought me in their story and gave new insight to what happened in during the Holocaust. It is written by three different people that were all children during the Holocaust. Each one was sent to camps. They switched between the voice of their grow-up selves and their child selves that were afraid and confused about what was happening to them. This book gave insight to first hand accounts of people who survived the Holocaust. It gives the reader a way to focus on what actually happened during the Holocaust and the way children viewed what was happening during their internment. Although the story was written, in it's book form, by Milton Nieuwsma (not a survivor), the stories are clearly first hand accounts from Holocaust survivors.
This book retells the stories of three girls who were children during the Holocaust. It invites you into the book with tells of before the Holocaust, during the Holocaust and after the Holocaust. It puts the reader into the time period by descriptive language also adding merit to the retelling of the events that occurred. Kinderlager, also pulls you back into the present by allowing the story teller to let the reader know that memories and memories of others are intertwined and something's are still missing from those memories.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick addition to Holocaust surivior stories. Different from most being that the three stories included in this book are from women who were all the youngest survivors in their camp. None of them should have lived, by their own words.
This is a Scholastic book and like a few others I've read it doesn't seem at all appropriate for a young person. I read somewhere this is for the 10-12 age group. I know, for a fact, that at those ages I wouldn't have known how to process this information. And most of the kids I know between those ages today, half of them are too ignorant to even know what to do with this information and the other half are nowhere near ready to read this. If I had to target an age group for this book it would at least, at the very least, be 14. And that still, of course, depends on the child.
But, as a 31-year-old, I'm glad I read Kinderlager, these were the first stories I've read of people so young during the Holocaust and it brings a whole new horror to the entire period.

[Danielle Friel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many times we hear memoirs and accounts of the Holocaust, families torn apart, possessions being left behind - this book tells the story of the Kinderlager. The Kinderlager was the concentration camp for children. The book is broken up into three books, each broken into chapters and told by three different survivors of the concentration camps. Tova, Frieda, and Rachel tell of their horrifying experiences, tactics they used to help get them through it all, and about the train-ride they all took only to arrive at such a terrible place.
With a helpful glossary in the back, this book would be good in a classroom when talking about the Holocaust and WWII. Children would be able to connect with these stories and get a good understanding of what life was like for the children telling the stories.
Although these stories are heartbreaking, they are also encouraging and can be an inspiration to realize that even when we are struggling, things could be worse. Take it from these girls, that a positive attitude can get you through even the worst of times.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of personal narratives told by survivors of Auschwitz. What's interesting is that they all knew each other, and were able to recount some of the same experiences through different eyes. So, so compelling, to hear of the awful experience as remembered by a child. This quote, by Rachel, resonated with me: "Perhaps [telling my story] is to discover how a person can survive the horrible crimes I did as a child and still function and rebuild life." Today there are few survivors left, but for decades after the war, thousands of people who survived had to continue to survive, integrate, cope, and proceed with "normal" life after what they experienced. Reading the part about equating Disneyland with the experience of being efficiently corralled and "managed" in a camp was jarring. I cannot even imagine.

[Videoclimber(AKA)MTsLilSis · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I am not sure about this one for younger readers. I think it is a good start for those 10 and up who show an interest in the Holocaust. In the end all three stories included showcase a sense of triumph, and will have readers wondering how these children managed to survive. Even with their stories in front of you, most will find them hard to believe and also amazing. This is a good mix of pictures and stories. The chapters are the exact right size to help you get a grasp of the children's stories, without totally overwhelming you. I found the viewpoint of these children to be very interesting, and a viewpoint you just don't find in most Holocaust books.

[Cleodel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not for the faint hearted, if your child has expressed an interest in learning about the Holocaust, I would recommend this book.

I read this book at the age of 11 and I do not feel as if I was too young to do so. It was actually my introduction to the Holocaust and it fueled my desire to learn more about the topic (as well as related topics such as other Genocides, War, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade). The book is very morbid and very detailed. So it really is a matter of understanding your own child's tolerance levels for heavy topics.

[Elnara Browers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: Three survivors of the Holocaust tell the stories of how they made it through the unimaginable childhood years spent at the Auschwitz death camp; witnessing the deaths of their parents, siblings, friends and everything they had known of. The stories continue into their adulthood when they were not diagnosed with PTSD and had to fight the ghosts of their pasts on their own.
Genre: biography, information
Mentor writing trait: organization - chronological order of events. voice trait - spoken by the witnesses.
Reading level:
Grade level Equivalent: 6.7
Lexile® Measure: 790L

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is quite remarkable. The three girls who recount their Holocaust experiences each had something amazing happen to them that allowed them to survive. Also the fact that all three of them survived and stayed connected for long amounts of time, wow...

[Jam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is chilling. Along with all first hand accounts of the Holocaust, this book really cuts deep. I would really recommend reading to anyone who has interest in the time and getting a deeper grasp on the Holocaust.

[Lydia Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has 3 stories of ladies who were in concentration camps as children. Their stories aren't easy to read, as most stories aren't about the holocaust. But it's also good to know how they survived this awful ordeal and made a life for themselves!

[Michelle]

3 accounts of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust. Shows the impact of the concentration camps. Rec. in Honey

[Kim Stroberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking but inspirational story of survival.

[Jordan Blaylock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written historical account that should not be forgotten. It is also one that is heartbreaking, so, reader beware.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

True stories of three young girls from Poland and how they survived the Holocaust. We MUST read these to experience what they went through so we won't allow it to happen again. Excellent.