Were the Nazis Conducting a “War Against the Jewish Child”?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23777/sn.0125/art_bcoh01

Keywords:

Child-targeted atrocities, War against Jewish children, WWII crimes

Abstract

This article investigates the concept of a distinct “war against the Jewish child” during the Holocaust, exploring child-targeted policies, actions, and systemic atrocities. The deliberate, bureaucratic organisation of these atrocities, and the discussions at multiple levels on the murder of Jewish children, reflect a military-like campaign against them, setting the Nazi treatment of Jewish children apart from historical and contemporary norms of war. The article argues that the examination of prewar and wartime policies, along with the organised logistics of extermination, validates the concept of a “war against the Jewish child”.

Author Biography

  • Boaz Cohen, Western Galilee College

    Boaz Cohen is the head of the Holocaust Studies program at Western Galilee College in Akko, Israel, and teaches history at Shaanan College in Haifa. He is also an affiliated research fellow at the Centre for Collective Violence, Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the UCL Institute for Advanced Studies.
    Dr. Cohen's work focuses on the postwar Jewish world, the development of Holocaust historiography and memory in social and cultural contexts, the agency of Holocaust survivors and their early testimonies, and the rehabilitation and early testimonies of child Holocaust survivors. He is co-founder of the "Children of War, Holocaust and Genocide" project with Verena Buser.

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Published

2025-03-05

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025): S:I.M.O.N. – SHOAH: INTERVENTION. METHODS. DOCUMENTATION.

Section

ARTICLES

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Boaz Cohen

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How to Cite

“Were the Nazis Conducting a ‘War Against the Jewish Child’?”. 2025. S: I.M.O.N. Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation. 12 (1): 25-39. https://doi.org/10.23777/sn.0125/art_bcoh01.