One Thousand Children
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The One Thousand Children (OTC) is a designation, created in 2000, which is used to refer to the approximately 1,400 Jewish children who were rescued from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and other Nazi-occupied or threatened European countries, and who were taken directly to the United States during the period 1934–1945. The phrase "One Thousand Children" only refers to those children who came unaccompanied and left their parents behind back in Europe. In nearly all cases, their parents were not able to escape with their children, because they could not get the necessary visas among other reasons. Later, nearly all these parents were murdered by the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
. The
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...
(USHMM), in its online "Holocaust Encyclopedia," in the article on "Immigration of Refugee Children to the United States," recognizes this official name: the "One Thousand Children," for this group of children. The archives of the "One Thousand Children," which contain much documentary material, including audio and video of both the One Thousand Children 2002 Conference, and individual interviews of OTC children, as well as many other original materials, and which all together are the fundamental reference-source, are held by the YIVO Institute. The OTC children were rescued by both American and European organizations, as well as by individuals. Originally only about one thousand such children had been identified as OTC children — hence the name "The One Thousand Children". By 2017 about 1,400 have been identified. The One Thousand Children, Inc. (OTC, Inc.) was an organization created for further welfare of the OTC children.


Definition and early history

Some 1.5 million children, nearly all of them Jewish, were deliberately murdered by the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. (This includes those who died of starvation, or illness due to inhumane conditions in the ghettoes.) A relatively few Jewish children were saved by being hidden by courageous Gentiles in various ways, in or close to their
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
-occupied hometown (see Hidden Children). Another relatively few Jewish children were saved by moving to non-Nazi-occupied lands. Naturally this required the aid of adults - these were saved by the efforts of programs, groups, individuals, or actual parents. In western Europe these would include the
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
program which included the individual efforts of Sir
Nicholas Winton Sir Nicholas George Winton (; 19 May 1909 – 1 July 2015) was a British stockbroker and humanitarian who helped to rescue refugee children, mostly Jews, Jewish, whose families had fled persecution by Nazi Germany. Born to History of the Jews ...
; and the work of the French Jewish organization
Å’uvre de Secours aux Enfants Å’uvre de secours aux enfants (, ), abbreviated OSE, is a French Jewish humanitarian organization which was founded in Russia in 1912 to help Russian Jewish children. Later it moved to France. OSE's most important activities took place both bef ...
(OSE).The official web-page for OSE
www.ose-france.org (in French)
Most of the programs that worked specifically to save children had the children remain within Western Europe. Other well organized programs prepared and sent children to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, for example
Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...
,
Youth village A youth village () is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pioneers in this sphere, known as youth ...
and ''
Sh'erit ha-Pletah Sh'erit ha-Pletah (, meaning surviving remnant, and is a term from the Book of Ezra and 1 Chronicles (see ; ) is a Hebrew term for the more than 250,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Displaced Persons (DP) camps after the end of the Holo ...
''. In contrast, in the One Thousand Children "program,"Jason, Philip K. and Iris Posner, editors, ''Don't Wave Goodbye: The Children's Flight from Nazi Persecution to American Freedom,'' Praeger Greenwood Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, 2004. Baumel, Judith T. ''Unfulfilled Promise''. Denali Press, Juneau, AK. 1990. The official One Thousand Children web-pages
www.onethousandchildren.yivo.org
approximately 1,400 children, nearly all Jewish, were successfully rescued and brought across the ocean to the United States. In general, they were brought in quiet operations designed to avoid negative attention from isolationist and other
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
forces. Originally 1,177 such children had been identified as OTC — hence the name the "One Thousand Children" (OTC). These OTC children: * either came from Europe directly to the United States during the period 1934 to 1945; * were of age up to sixteen (the cut-off age, before they were considered adults). The youngest was fourteen months old; * arrived unaccompanied, leaving their parents behind; and * were usually placed with foster families, schools and other facilities across the U.S. However some came under individual arrangements with various final arrangements. The OTC history is divided into four periods: * the first: 1934, until
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
on November 9/10, 1938 – during which there were very few OTC; * second: starting with Kristallnacht November 9/10, 1938, which had strongly alerted the American public to the oppression of the Jews in Nazi Germany, until the outbreak of the European War on September 1, 1939; * third: September 1, 1939 until
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
December 7, 1941, during the period while Europe was at war but the United States was officially neutral, until Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, when America joined the war. This was a period when travel from all of Europe to the neutral United States was still permitted, but only if one could obtain the required travel documents; and * fourth: December 7, 1941 until
Victory in Europe Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...
May 8, 1945. During this period America and Germany were at war, so that legal travel from the Nazi-occupied lands to America was not available. The first small group of six children arrived at
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in November 1934. This was followed by subsequent small groups, totaling about 100 children annually, that occurred in the early years of operation, and they were taken to foster homes arranged through appeals to congregations and other organizations' members. Most of the children came through programs run by private refugee agencies such as the German Jewish Children's Aid (GJCA). The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (
HIAS HIAS, founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is a Jewish American nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was established on in 1881 to help Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States escaping antisemi ...
) as well as the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Advert Where and how does this article resemble an WP:SOAP, advert and how should it be improved? See: Wikipedia:Spam (you might trthe Teahouseif you have questions). American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a J ...
, (colloquially known as "the Joint"), HICEM, and the
Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
(the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
). Many of these efforts were combined to form the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children (USCOM) which was registered with the US government and later became part of the National War Fund. Fundraising efforts were assisted by the
American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...
, the
American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests in the US and internationally through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The idea for a ...
, and the
National Council of Jewish Women The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Founded in 1893, the NCJW describes itself as the oldest Jewish women's grassroots organization organization in the USA and currently has over 225,000 members. ...
. For instance, many of the OTC were initially gathered together, supported, taken care of, and educated by the French Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE)Andree Salomon, OSE did manage to gather together about 350 such children in three large groups, who travelled to America with the aid of the organizations mentioned. Many of these children came from the
Gurs internment camp Gurs internment camp (, ) was an internment camp and prisoner of war camp constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau. The camp was originally set up by the French government after the fall of Catalonia at t ...
. Other OTC came under private arrangements and sponsorship, typically made by the parent(s) with a family relative or friend. Such children would live with their sponsor, or sometimes live in a boarding school in close contact with their sponsor. Before 1938, only small groups were brought into the country by such organizations, because of concern for anti-semitism and social hostility to allowing foreigners to enter the U.S. during the Depression. The sponsoring organizations wanted to avoid drawing undue attention to the children. Furthermore, their immigration was limited by the U.S. immigration quota system for their countries of origin. The demand on these organizations increased markedly after
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
on November 9/10, 1938 convinced more European parents that the destruction of Jews was an element of the Nazi agenda. In the later period of 1941–1942, when news of Nazi atrocities was more widely circulated, larger groups of OTC were organized and arrived in the U.S. A few of the OTC came under the British Children's Overseas Reception Board (CORB) program, as well as the "U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children" (USCOM). In the OTC programs under the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society HIAS, founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is a Jewish American nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was established on in 1881 to help Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States escaping antisemit ...
(now nearly always contracted to HIAS), German Jewish Children's Aid Society, (GJCA), the Quakers, etc., foster families in the U.S. agreed to care for the children until age twenty-one, see that they were educated, and provided a guarantee that they would not become public charges. Most of these children were assigned a social worker from a local social service agency to oversee the child's resettlement process. Jewish children were generally placed in Jewish homes. These children, and their sponsors, expected that they would be reunited with their own families at the end of the war. Most of the children lost one or both parents, and most of their extended families, by the time
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
had ended.


Where the Children Came From, And Some of Their Journeys

Most of the OTC children came from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Some came from France, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. Only very very few came directly from Eastern Europe. However, some families of OTC had previously made it from Eastern to Western Europe; and then the OTC child fled from Western Europe. (For instance, this was the case for Wulf Wolodia Grajonca, who later became the "rock-and-roll" impresario
Bill Graham (promoter) Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 â€“ October 25, 1991) was a German-born American impresario and rock concert promoter. In the early 1960s, Graham moved to San Francisco, and in 1965, began to manage the San Fran ...
). Before the war, many simply managed to get to Hamburg or another port, and sail from there. though this itself was not easy. After the German ''
blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...
'' of May 1940 through Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, and rapidly into France, many OTC children fled from
Occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
or
Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...
by going south and west to the Spanish border. Then they made the difficult climb over the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
, usually guided by a ''passeur'' guide/smuggler. From Spain, they traveled to neutral Portugal and Lisbon. From there, they sailed to America, often on one of the Portuguese liners Serpa Pinto (also known as the RMS Ebro), or Mouzinho, or Nyassa. This escape route was also taken by many families. This escape route, through France and over the Pyrenees to Spain, then Portugal and Lisbon, was also followed by those who fled from Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. Some other OTC children managed to get to Casablanca in North Africa, and sailed from there. It was often the case that whole families made some or all the journey to the port, before the sad parting when the OTC child continued alone. For instance, some French intact families followed a trajectory that led them to one of the French concentration camps such as ''
Gurs Gurs () in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. History Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood. Geography Gurs ...
''. Then OSE was able to extract the child(ren) from that camp, but with the parents still interned. Then OSE would aid the child(ren) over the next OTC stages to their final transport across the Atlantic. In the later stages of this journey, often
HIAS HIAS, founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is a Jewish American nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was established on in 1881 to help Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States escaping antisemi ...
, or the "
Joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...
" would also assist the OTC children.
Å’uvre de secours aux enfants Å’uvre de secours aux enfants (, ), abbreviated OSE, is a French Jewish humanitarian organization which was founded in Russia in 1912 to help Russian Jewish children. Later it moved to France. OSE's most important activities took place both bef ...
Remarkably, a similar small group of about 6-8 unaccompanied Jewish children fled to the United States from Venezuela. Their parents, in the small Jewish community of Maracaibo in Venezuela, were well aware of Hitler's possible global threat, which included German submarines off the Venezuelan coast. There were r.a. 400 people, who survived concentration camps like the ungarian Eva Szepesi. These were also titeled as ''child survivors''.


The "OTC" Children

For many of the OTC children, the period before they reached America was very difficult. Before World War II, most were simply assembled by rescue agencies directly from their home towns in Germany and Austria, and then easily escorted to America. But after the war started, nearly all of them went through extreme hardships and dangers before they boarded ship for the United States. Some did travel to the port with parents, but many traveled alone, at least for part of their flight. Some were smuggled over the Pyrenees (usually with their parents). Some were incarcerated for a time in concentration camps such as Gurs internment camp in southern France, while some spent time in a French "château" (large mansion) run by the ''Œ'' uvre de Secours aux Enfants or OSE. Some of the OTC children came by individual arrangements made by their family, in which the child would be sent into the care of a relative in America. In America, they would either live with that family, or perhaps be placed in a boarding school. Many OTC children made notable contributions to American society. Among them are: *One OTC (and
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
) child,
Jack Steinberger Jack Steinberger (born Hans Jakob Steinberger; May 25, 1921December 12, 2020) was a German-born American physicist noted for his work with neutrinos, the subatomic particles considered to be elementary constituents of matter. He was a recipient o ...
, became a
Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...
in physics. His experiment, done with two others, greatly clarified the understanding of fundamental elementary particle physics at the time. *Another OTC child, Ambassador Richard Schifter, during World War II and shortly afterwards, was one of the
Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...
. The Ritchie Boys were a unit of the U.S. Army, who were chosen because of their excellent language skills in German, French, etc., and were trained in military intelligence at Fort Ritchie. They then operated primarily in interrogation on the battlefield during World War II. There were about 20,000, of whom about 2,000 were German or Austrian refugees to America. Several OTC children became Ritchie Boys, or served in the Armed Forces. After his Ritchie Boy stint, Ambassador Schifter had a very significant diplomatic and legal career, and was the U.S. Ambassador for Human Relations at the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
. As a child in Austria, his father told him that no Jew could become an Ambassador (in Austria). Schifter did become an American Ambassador to the United Nations, but his father had been already murdered by the Nazis. *Another child Wulf Wolodia Grajonca renamed himself Bill Graham and became prominent in the 1960s as the concert promoter and music venue operator in the
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
and
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
scene in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Bill Graham was the promoter for the musical groups
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
and
Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...
. He operated the
Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...
,
Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore ...
,
The Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...
and Winterland Ballroom rock music venues, and organized the large
Summer Jam at Watkins Glen The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was a July 1973 rock festival outside Watkins Glen, New York, that featured the Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and the Band. The July 28, 1973, event long held the Guinness Book of World Records entry for "la ...
and
US Festival The US Festival is the name of two early 1980s music and culture festivals held near San Bernardino, California. Background Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple and creator of the Apple I and Apple II personal computers, believed that the 197 ...
events before his death in a
helicopter crash A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
in 1991. He was posthumously inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 1992. *Henri Parens became a child psychiatrist, and wrote several professional books that presented methods he had developed to help children who had been traumatized, such as OTC children. Naturally he made use of his own OTC experience at ages 11–12, and subsequently. In his autobiographical book ''"Renewal of Life: Healing from the Holocaust"'', Parens importantly explicitly presents his feelings and emotions during his OTC experiences and his later slow "healing." (Most autobiographies are purely factual.) * Herbert Freudenberger, a psychologist and author of the book ''"Burn-out: The High Cost of High Achievement"'' (1980) *Arthur Hans Weiss, one of the
Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...
. As a United States military counter intelligence figure, who found Adolf Hitler's last will and political testament in autumn 1945. He later became a lawyer. *
Guy Stern Günther "Guy" Stern (January 14, 1922 – December 7, 2023) was a German-American decorated member of the secret Ritchie Boys World War II military intelligence interrogation team. As the only person from his Jewish family to flee Nazi Germany ...
(born Günther Stern) was one of the
Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...
, like Ambassador Schifter (above). He then had a distinguished career as a university professor and Holocaust Museum director. *Harry Eckstein (born Horst Eckstein) became a political science professor at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
and the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
.


Emotional and Practical Effects

At the time, the OTC children went through much emotional stress and trauma and practical difficulties in Europe before their arrival in America, also during their initial period in America, and even in later war-time years. At war's end, most OTC children would learn that their parents had been murdered by the Nazis. At that time, they had to adjust to, and create for themselves, another new set of life experiences. As is now well-understood, such stress and trauma will continue to create conscious and unconscious trauma, and their repercussions, for many years. These OTC trauma, both at the time and afterwards, are closely similar to those met by other Child Holocaust Survivors who survived in Europe.Moskovitz, Sarah ''"LOVE DESPITE HATE – Child Survivors of the Holocaust and their Adult Lives."'' Schocken Books, New York 1983. .Krell, Robert''"Child Holocaust Survivors, Memories and Reflections."'' Trafford Publishing, 2007. . These OTC trauma were caused by the Holocaust. The OTC child's situation in the United States was very different than that of a child who remained in Europe, but it was equally damaging to his childhood development. Very importantly, these trauma were different and more extreme than those of an adult Holocaust Survivor. An adult had developed coping methods to survive through life. Children are not yet adults. Children still have to learn a full set of mature coping skills - that is why their parents support, teach, and protect their children. Society also accepts an important responsibility in this regard. Like other Child Holocaust Survivors, the actual experiences and psychological trauma received by the OTC Child Survivors differed fundamentally, crucially and negatively from that of an adult Holocaust Survivor. An adult generally would have developed a sense of self and ego, which would provide him or her with a way of attempting to deal with the practical and emotional trauma. Usually a child has not yet developed a strong ego nor sense of self. Also, a child depends on his or her parents for support and protection, and especially love. Yet for these Child Holocaust Survivors, they lacked their parents and their parents' love; and they only had weakly developed egos and sense of self, at the very time that the external and psychological trauma were most extreme. (Some exceptions may have been older teenage OTCers, such as those who joined the
Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...
). The first very significant trauma occurred at the moment of parting from their parent(s), whether when boarding ship or at an earlier time and event. For the younger OTC children, regardless of whatever reassuring words the parent(s) might say, the child would feel abandoned by their parents. Even older children, who could understand the reality "intellectually," none-the-less would feel as having been abandoned. For the very young children, even though in later years they would have no actual memory of the parting and of these feelings, and also no memory of (part of) the later years, yet the trauma of parting and of continued separation will still have current and continuing subconscious impact. Most OTC children were placed in "foster-families," some of which were loving and some not; or sometimes they were placed in various types of institutions, some caring, and some not. But in most cases these could not replace the love and support from his own family; and the new relationship would take time to develop. In some fortunate instances, the OTC child would grow to totally blend into the foster family, and learn to love them as if they were his own parents and siblings. The older OTC children fully knew the dangers their left-behind parents faced from the Nazi threat. And then, at the end of the war, nearly always the OTC child would find out, sooner or later, that his or her parents had been murdered by the Nazis; and there would also have been the prior stress of waiting and hoping, before that final factual discovery. Not surprisingly, some of the OTC children became very angry with their situation. Some would act out, sometimes so much so that their "foster-parents" decided they had to return the OTC child to the original Organization, such as HIAS, to be placed elsewhere – but then the cycle might repeat. As an example, one OTC child, Phyllis Helene Mattson, also acted out at the "Orphanage" Institution, where twice she had to be placed – she ultimately stayed with four "foster-families," and was in the "Orphanage" twice. She ran away from two of her "foster-families," and one "foster-family" sent her back to the "Orphanage." As she herself writes, it is somewhat remarkable that she managed to become a responsible mature adult. She recounts all this in her book ''"War Orphan in San Francisco".'' At a more practical level, nearly every OTC child arrived in America not being able to speak English, and so he or she was held behind in school grade placement (though most rapidly learned English and then advanced rapidly into their proper school-grade). He or she had to adapt to a new culture and way of behaving.


Emotional Trauma Continued After The War Was Over

Like other Holocaust child survivors, after the war the OTC child had traumatic life adjustments to make. Their parents had nearly certainly been murdered by the Nazis, when he was still a young child, which he either learned soon after the war ended - or no information was available, and then he could hope that they were still alive, and fear that they were dead. Yet, even after the war, they most emphatically still needed their parents. At best, he found a good "substitute" in what now would become permanent "foster parents." This "switch" was naturally also traumatic. He, too, had to create a sense of self-identity and autonomy as he moved towards adulthood, from his under-developed posture as an OTC.


Descriptions: Holocaust Child Survivors, Hidden Children, OTC, Kindertransport


Hidden Children of the Holocaust; OTC as Holocaust Child Survivors

Hidden Children of the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
are those children who were hidden in some way during the Holocaust from the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in occupied Europe, hidden so as to avoid capture by the Nazis. One sub-group even of Hidden Children are children who, during the Holocaust, were placed into the care of a "foster-family," usually Catholic, and raised as-if one of the family. These Hidden Children were saved from murder by the Nazis. Nonetheless, all of them, including those in "foster-families," suffered great trauma at the time, and also later both consciously and subconsciously.Robert Krell, ''"Child Holocaust Survivors, Memories and Reflections."'' Trafford Publishing, 2007. . OTC children went through very significant trauma, both in terms of the psychological and the practical – caused by the Holocaust. These trauma in large part correspond to many aspects of those trauma developed by the "foster-family" sub-group of the Hidden Children – Child Survivors who had been raised as-if one of a (generally Catholic) family. The OTC trauma similarly was caused by the Holocaust. For this reason alone, we see that OTC are Child Survivors of the Holocaust.


"American Kindertransport"

The OTC are the "American
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
." The Kindertransport Program is discussed in more detail in a later section. Here, we only need to know that, during the period between
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
and the start of World War II, the Kindertransport Program brought about 10,000 Jewish children to England from Germany, German-annexed Austria, and German-occupied Czechoslovakia - but the children (''kinder'') had been forced to flee by themselves, and forced to leave their parents behind. (Nearly all the children's parents were later murdered by the Nazis.) In November 2018, the German Government announced a "Kindertransport Fund" that would pay each surviving Kindertransport "child" a token symbolic amount of 2,500 Euros (about $2,850 at that time). This was intended to be in recognition of the especial trauma these Kindertransport had suffered as children during their flight from Hitler, but that they had had to flee unaccompanied, and forced to leave their parents behind. The German Government created this Fund precisely to recognize that the Kinder were Child Survivors of the Holocaust. The OTC, as children suffered exactly the same trauma as did the kinder. This is the second reason that we see that the OTC are Child Survivors of the Holocaust.


Research and discovery

The fact that some unaccompanied children fled from Europe directly to the U.S.A. was first researched by Judith Baumel-Schwartz in a doctoral thesis and related book. However, only in 2000 did Iris Posner have the realization and then implement it, that these children should be considered a significant distinct group of Holocaust Survivors, which should be discussed in the truly public domain. Specifically, in 2000, Iris Posner had learned of the British Government-assisted
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
effort, and was intrigued by the question of whether there was a similar actual official American Government effort. Posner wrote letters to newspapers asking any such children to contact her. Posner and Leonore Moskowitz also researched ship manifests and other documents. In this way, Posner "created" the story of this group of unaccompanied children to America ("The One Thousand Children," as she later named them). At that time, they managed to identify slightly over 1,000, hence the name. Posner and Moskowitz managed to locate about 500 of these who were still alive, and invited each of them to the 2002 OTC Conference. Soon after, in 2001, Posner and Moskowitz jointly founded the non-profit organization ''The One Thousand Children, Inc.'' Posner and Moskowitz, under the aegis of their organization "The One Thousand Children, Inc" organized a three-day International OTC Conference and Reunion in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 2002. Approximately 200 attendees had the opportunity to listen and interact with over 50 speakers drawn from OTC children, their children and grandchildren, and "foster" family members and rescuers from rescue organizations. At the time of the Conference in 2002, they had found the names of about 1,200 OTC'ers. Since that time the known number has increased to about 1,400.


American "Response"

The OTC story is unlike that of the
kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
in which unaccompanied children came from mainland Europe to Great Britain. In contrast to the OTC 'program," the British kindertransport program was officially created by the British Government in very speedy response to
kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
on Nov 9/10, 1938. Within six days the British Government presented an official bill in Parliament which was rapidly passed, which waived all immigration and visa requirements for unaccompanied children, though it left actual arrangements to private relief organizations and individual sponsors. In contrast, the United States did not change any immigration laws. In 1939, the proposed
Wagner–Rogers Bill The Wagner–Rogers Bill was proposed United States legislation which would have increased the quota of immigrants by bringing a total of 20,000 Jewish children (there were no sectarian criteria) under the age of 14 (10,000 in 1939, and another 10, ...
to admit 20,000 Jewish refugees under the age of 14 to the United States from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, cosponsored by Sen. Robert F. Wagner (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Edith Rogers (R-Mass.), failed to get Congressional approval. Jewish organizations did not challenge this decision. The full story of the failure of the Wagner-Rogers bill shows the power of the isolationist forces at that time, which included "an undercurrent of resentment toward Jews". Even the Ickes plan for settling Jews in Alaska, known as the
Slattery Report The Slattery Report, officially titled ''The Problem of Alaskan Development'', was produced by the United States Department of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary Harold L. Ickes in 1939–40. It was named after Undersec ...
, did not come to any success. Furthermore, the State Department had a deliberately obstructionist ''"Paper Walls"'' policy in operation to delay or prevent the issuing of any officially permitted visas for all refugees who desired entry to America.", This Paper Wall contributed to the low number of refugees. From July 1941 all immigration applications went to a special inter-departmental committee, and under the "relatives rule" special scrutiny was given to any applicant with relatives in German, Italian or Russian territory. Beginning in July 1943, a new State Department visa application form over four feet long was used, with details required of the refugee and of the two sponsors; and six copies had to be submitted. Applications took about nine months, and were not expedited even in cases of imminent danger. Furthermore, from fall 1943, applications from refugees "not in acute danger" could be refused (e.g. people who had reached Spain, Portugal or North Africa). This created a huge barrier, since many of these children (usually with their parents) had fled there from other parts of Europe, some by being smuggled over the Pyrenees. The American public also resisted the OTC program, because of social hostility to allowing foreigners to enter the U.S. during the Depression, and generally from isolationist and antisemitic forces.


Some of the Groups of OTC Sailings, and their Rescuers

* The " Brith Sholom" Group of 50 OTC, who were rescued in 1938 by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus. Their detailed story is presented in a later section. * In June 1942, about 50 OTC sailed from Casablanca for New York on board the Serpa Pinto. They had been helped originally by OSE in France. Then the American Friends Service Committee helped them to leave France from Marseilles to Casablanca, under the auspices of the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children (USCOM) (and see that WIKI section). * 3 groups totalling 311 OTC, who sailed from Lisbon, who were helped by OSE and specifically by Andree Salomon.


Iris Posner's contributions to the OTC story

Source: Iris Posner's contributions started with her "discovering" and "creating" the One Thousand Children as a concept. Posner and Moskowitz then went on to search for information about these OTC children – their names and other OTC information – and then searched for the actual OTC "children." Posner and Moskowitz then put on the 2002 OTC Conference (see above). Posner created the OTC story. Posner provided the new "One Thousand Children" group-identity for these children. Posner enabled these children to realize they were "Child Survivors of the Holocaust." Posner caused all Holocaust groups and scholars to recognize this "new" group of Holocaust Child Survivors."


Personal Realization that They were "Child Survivors of the Holocaust"

It was at this 2002 OTC Conference that many of the OTC Children first realized that they had two new identities – both as OTC, and as "Child Survivors of the Holocaust." They realized that they truly were Child Survivors of the Holocaust. For a very emphatic audio-visual statement by an OTC that she indeed was a Child Survivor of the Holocaust, listen to her YouTube testimony ''"I am a Holocaust Survivor! Hitler wanted to put me on the dung-heap of History! He failed!"''


One Thousand Children, Inc (OTC, Inc.)

Iris Posner and Leonore Moskowitz created the non-profit research and education organization One Thousand Children, Inc (OTC, Inc.), whose primary purposes are to maintain a connection between the OTC children, to explore this little-known segment of American history, and to create archival materials and depositories. OTC, Inc's print, photo, and audio-visual archives, and some of its activities have been transferred to the "
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Establi ...
" though OTC, Inc itself has ceased to exist (see next section).


Video Summation of the OTC Experience, and the "Disbanding" of OTC, Inc in Oct 2013

OTC, Inc. formally disbanded in Oct 2013, but its work goes on. The "closing" took place at a two-hour conference at the
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Establi ...
. Testimony by individual OTC'ers make up a significant part of this conference.


British Kindertransport, and Compared with the One Thousand Children Effort

A larger but similar British program, the ''
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
'', is more well-known. That effort brought approximately 10,000 similarly defined mainly Jewish children to the United Kingdom, between November 21, 1938, and September 3, 1939. It had to stop at that date, since that was the beginning of World War II. The Kindertransport program was created by the British Government which within six days of Kristallnacht presented an Act in the British Parliament. This act waived all visa and immigration requirements for an unspecified number of unaccompanied children. Naturally, the children had to be privately financed and guaranteed, and placed by various British Jewish Organizations. (Some of the "kinder" from Britain subsequently migrated to America, e.g. the Nobel Prize-winning scientists
Arno Penzias Arno Allan Penzias (; April 26, 1933 – January 22, 2024) was an American physicist and radio astronomer. Along with Robert Woodrow Wilson, he discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physi ...
and Walter Kohn.) In contrast, the United States Government did nothing to aid any of the OTC children, and did not waive any quota or immigration requirements. The 12-year OTC effort required each OTC child to meet the American immigration requirements.


OTC Archived Documents and Other Media Are Now Mainly at the "YIVO Institute for Jewish Research"

The Organization's archives have been donated to and now reside at the
YIVO YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Estab ...
Institute for Jewish Research in New York City. These primary archives include video-recordings of the complete 2002 OTC Conference as well as partial written transcripts. Many artifacts, including personal diaries written as children or later as adults, are included; as well as data about each individual (identified) child, other information, and photographs. This archive is open to scholars. The list of the 1177 originally-identified OTC'ers, with names and many other details, is at YIVO. It is also at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (In both cases, it is confidential, and is only available to researchers.) Other documents and artifacts are located at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...
(USHMM), and the
National Museum of American Jewish History The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (The Weitzman) is a Smithsonian-affiliated museum at 101 South Independence Mall East (S. 5th Street) at Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. It was founded in 1976. History With ...
(NMAJH) in Philadelphia.


Story of the Rescue of 50 Brith Sholom OTC Children

Some of the OTC children were rescued by Jewish organizations such as HIAS. But some were rescued by individuals. For example, one American 51 year-old bachelor distant cousin sponsored and took official responsibility for a six-year-old OTC'er, but the OTC'er had to be placed in a small year-round boarding-school A remarkable rescue was made by a private wealthy Philadelphia family, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus. On their own, they rescued 25 boys and 25 girls from Vienna after
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
, but before the war in Europe started. They had many practical difficulties, including those to obtain the necessary 50 American visas from within the immigration quota system. On arrival, these children were first placed in the summer camp facilities of the fraternal order Brith Sholom, and then were placed into the homes of Philadelphia families.This story was also made into a documentary film shown on PBS
film story outline and a trailer for the film.
(The film is not available on the web, since it is under copyright by the film distributor.


See also

*''
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...
'' * Hidden children during the Holocaust * Children in the Holocaust


References


Further reading

* Fern Schumer Chapman. ''"Is It Night or Day?"'' * Thea Kahn Lindauer. ''"There Must Be An Ocean Between Us"'' (iUniverse) * Louis Maier. ''"In Lieu of Flowers"'' * * Parens, Henri. ''"Renewal of Life: healing from the Holocaust."'' Schreiber Publishing, Rockville MD, 2004. In this important book, Parens explicitly presents his feelings such as fear, disgust, anxiety at being alone and only twelve, etc. in his very dangerous OTC situations in France.. These feelings lead to the trauma, and we need to understand the trauma in order to understand the full OTC experience. (And see Phyllis Helene Mattson (below). Parens became a psychiatrist and worked to help his patients overcome childhood trauma, for which he used his own trauma. * Phyllis Helene Mattson. ''"War Orphan in San Francisco"'' (Stevens Creek Press) . This book presents an example of the possible psychological effects of the OTC experience. The author describes her many behavioral issues and placement transitions that she went through, because of the drastic disruption in her life at age 12. She had become an orphan. * ''"Forced Journey: The Saga of Werner Berlinger"'' (2013), by Rosemary Zibart. (hardback), {{ISBN, 978-1-932926-32-3 (paperback). Written for teenagers, this tells the fictionized OTC story of "Werner," from Hamburg to America.


External links

*
The official One Thousand Children web-page
www.onethousandchildren.yivo.org Jewish emigration from Nazi Germany International response to the Holocaust Kindertransport Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust