The lives of Jewish children before the Shoah

1. Through our eyes
The lives of Jewish children before the Shoah

2. Leisure,CultureandSport
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3. Leisure
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4. “Sunday we went to the Opera to hear The Barber of
Seville It was a beautiful performance with an
exceptionally fine cast. Hannah S. (age 13) Hungary
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5. “Jewish life in Vilna was vibrant and exciting…From
early childhood the theatre was my passion.”
Sima (age 14) Poland
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6. “One day a new movie theatre called The Palladium
opened in Warsaw.”
Anna H. (age 10) Warsaw,
Poland
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From I Wanted to Fly Like a Butterfly Pg3 (Hanechka/Hannah)
“My Polish neighbor, Marisha, Yanek and Basha were my best friends. I loved to play hide-and-seek
with them in the garden behind our house, where we found great hiding places in trees and bushes. I
use to watch the many kinds of bugs as they carried little pieces of food back to their secret homes.
Sometimes right in the middle of hide-and-seek, I would notive a bug in the ground and would lie on
my stomach to study it more carefully until I heard my friends calling for me to continue our game.
I was always happy, smiling and very popular. People who knew me would always stop and ask me
how I was doing, and pat my cirls or pinch my cheek. I loved to sing and to recite Polish poems. When
my parents took me to visit friends or relatives, my mother would always ask me to sing or tell a story
in front of everyone. Sometimes I did not feel like ti, and I just wanted to go on playing with the other
children outside”.

8. Hakshara of the HeHalutz movement in 1932, Kielce, Poland
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9. I was a sportsman. I swam. I have medals from a 5K that I
did. In my day I was one of the best sportsmen in North
Africa. I played soccer. We would compete in League A,
League B.
Eliyahu G. Nabeul, Tunisia
Soccer team with Israel Itzkowitz (third from right) and Dov
Schnitzler (fifth from right) before the war.
Kosice, Czechoslovakia
A public soccer field in which Jewish and Polish teams
played and competed before the outbreak of the war.
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10. “Since early childhood my sole interest has been sports. I
have been training hard for the forth-coming swimming
championships.”
Kitty (age 13) Bielsko, Poland
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11. Jewish sportsmen from the “HaPoel” movement,
Hamburg, Germany
Avram Czukernik and friends on the slopes. Vilna, Poland
"Bar-Kochba” team at running practice
1932 Germany ,Munich.
Photo of members of the Czechoslovak “Maccabi HaTzair” group
15/8/1936 Czechoslovakia
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12. Group of swimmers photographed before the war.
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13. Photo of cyclists in Grodno, Poland
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14. “We belonged to youth groups, went skating in the
winter, played tennis in the summer. I was a
gymnast and in track.”
Dora (age 12) Radom, Poland
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15. “One of the most popular games which was played by the older
children with great vigor was Volkerball, a type of hand-ball game
with two teams and complicated rules. It was a great day when the
older children allow us to take part.”
Hannele (age 11) Germany
A game of table-tennis, 1933Members of a tennis team. Kaba, Hungary, 1927
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16. “I love this clear, blue surging river. I love to swim in its
rippling waters and lie in the shade of the bushes hugging its
edge. Swarms of children splash all summer in the Danube.
Families picnic on the grass, the soccer team has its practice
ground nearby, and the swimming team trains for its annual
meet.”
Livia (age 13) Hungary
An outing for students of the elementary school. Gdynia, Poland, 1935
Youth at a summer camp on the banks of the
Neman River. Grodno, Poland
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17. Brothers Velvel and Herschel Ilvitzky riding a bike.
Baranowicze, Poland
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18. Jewish
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19. “This afternoon I went to synagogue. Those afternoon services are so
odd; it seems one does everything but pray. The girls talk and look
down at the boys, and the boys talk and look up at the girls – this is
what the entire thing consists of.”
Hannah S. (age 15) Hungary
Synagogue. Sofia, Bulgaria Interior of the synagogue prior to the war. Zalaegerszeg, Hungary
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20. Everyone went to synagogue together, with uncles and
everybody. On Friday you could smell the Tunisian food as you
came up the stairs. The aroma of couscous and everything else
filled the house.
Eliyahu N., Tunisia
Bar Mitzvah ceremony 08/08/1936 in the Burla synagogue in Saloniki, Greece.
From right: Teacher and hazan David, Into Shimshi in tallit, Into’s father Avraham
Shimshi.
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21. “We had many things to be proud of…our joy and pride – The Great
Synagogue. It was a very impressive large structure with tall stained-glass
windows. It was in this synagogue that my brother Bunio had his Bar
Mitzvah. Of course Mamma and I had to watch from the upstairs, but we
could see and hear everything. My youngest brother, Herzl, saved us some of
the candies that were thrown at the Bat Mitzvah boy.”
Alicia (age 10) Poland
Abba Gutman wrapped in his tallit on his Bar-
Mitzvah day.
1939Luboml, Poland
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22. “The old brass candelabrum, the menorah, that had been passed
down through several generation, was brought out and polished till it
shone. On the eighth night all nine candles, the “servant” candle too,
were burning and their light seemed to grow and suffuse the whole
room…”
Hannale (age 11) Germany
Thessaloniki, Greece
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23. “We had a Chanukah play. I was one of the candles,
supposedly of a menorah, and we all had a verse that
we had to recite in Hebrew and it was a very exciting
thing to me.”
Susan (age 12) Germany
Meijer family. Amsterdam, Holland
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24. We were three boys and three girls. We would
celebrate holidays together, four families. For
example, on Sukkot we would make a very big
sukkah and everyone would gather there together.
Eliyahu N. Tunisia
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25. “Since ours was a Jewish neighborhood, between
Yom Kippur and Succoth there was a deafening
noise of hammering and sawing. In no time, palm
branch roofs were erected all over the place.”
Anna (age 12) Warsaw, Poland
Levy family in front of their succah.
Affaltrach, Germany
Succah in the Jewish Quarter. Berlin, Germany 1933
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26. “Purim was an occasion for fancy-dress performances by
the children of the Jewish community before their
admiring elders. Mummy used to make our costumes
and rehearse us in our parts until we were word-perfect.”
Hannele (age 11) Germany
Gerda and Lisl Meier dressed up as a prince and princess.
Herrlingen, Germany
Two young women in Purim costume. Herrlingen, Germany 1938
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27. In Bedouin costumes for Purim, March 1937. Herrlingen, Germany
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28. On Passover we would buy
special round Tunisian matzot
with holes. Sometimes we
would celebrate Passover
with this uncle or that uncle
and all the children. It was so
joyful. Being with cousins was
a lot of fun, we would just
play.
Eliyahu N. Tunisia
Baking matzot for Passover.
Solotvina, Czechoslovakia 1935
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29. “It is spring. The smell of fresh paint blends with
the fresh scent of the new season…Spring, warm
and gentle, brings the beautiful holiday of
freedom: Passover…I have the job of cleaning our
windows for the holiday.”
Ruth (age 13) Lodz, Poland
Passover meal at the Ashers. Amsterdam, Holland 1933
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30. S
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31. “My childhood passed happily and I felt secure
in the deep love, boundless affection, and
devotion which my parents, sister and brother
poured out on me.”
Ruth (age 10) Poland
A family in the garden. Czechoslovakia
A photograph of the Yehudia family before the war.
Thessaloniki, Greece
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32. “I attended a secular school and afternoon
Hebrew school.”
Leah (age 13) Czechoslovakia
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33. “At the end of the summer vacation we returned to the
city bursting with delight and eager to go back to school.
I went first to the “Beit Yaacov” School and later
transferred to “Havatzeleth.” I was an excellent pupil and
loved school-life very much.”
Sara (age 15) Lodz, Poland
Group photo of students at the Gymnasium Liseau in 1939. Bistrita, Romania
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34. It was decided that I would attend a municipal
Greek high school. At this school I made new
friends.
Jacob, Greece
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35. “The work at school is finished. The days are sunny and
warm. We wish to escape from the city…Our schoolmates
dream about green fields, about the cheerful camp
life…Toward evening we return to the noisy city that pulsates
with energetic life. Never did life possess such joy and
freedom from care…
Yitzkhok (age 15) Vilna, Lithuania
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36. I lived in a well to do neighbourhood that was
mostly Greek, with some Jews…my friends, both
Jewish and Greek, loved coming over.”
Jack (age 13) Saloniki, Greece
Avaham Nachmias and friends. Greece 1928
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37. Tonka Hack (on left) Boreslaw, Poland
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“I hated porridge. No matter how much butter and
sugar was added, I couldn’t stand the gluey mess.”
Anna H. (age 10) Warsaw Poland

38. “Winter in Gerresheim was particularly a happy time…I
loved to watch the first snow falling; large grey flakes from
behind the windowpane, settling soundlessly on branches,
fences, and streetlamps. I loved the sense of warmth and
safety it gave me…Snowball-fights raged up and down the
street and even grownups sometimes became involved.”
Hannele (age 11) Germany
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39. “I love this clear, blue surging river. I love to swim in its
rippling waters and lie in the shade of the bushes hugging its
edge. Swarms of children splash all summer in the Danube.
Families picnic on the grass, the soccer team has its practice
ground nearby, and the swimming team trains for its annual
meet.” Livia (age 13) Hungary
Group photo: Koret Mamluk and friends. Ladendorf, Austria 1930
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40. “Almost everyone had skates, Dutch style, wooden, with blades
and straps to tie onto your shoes. I didn’t have any, but a
relative from New York sent me a pair of second hand figure
skates with shoes attached. I was thrilled and felt rich, as few
kids had shoe skates. The only problem was that they were
about five sizes too large, and I didn’t know how to skate.”
Barry (age 13) Holland
Avraham Royznman, first on right, posing with his friends in the snow.
Luboml, Poland
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41. “We were in school six days a week. We had an
awful lot of homework.”
Dora (age 12) Radom, Poland
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42. “I can remember life was good.”
Bertha (age 12) Czechoslovakia
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