The Children's Voice: Postwar Collection of Testimonies from Child Survivors of the Holocaust

In the aftermath of World War II, adults—mainly survivors—collected thousands of hand-written testimonies from child survivors of the Holocaust. In this article, the author describes the process by which the testimonies were collected and examines the underlying sensibilities of its initiators. Further, he outlines the widespread publication of children's testimonies in the immediate postwar period and the evolution of anthologies of children's testimonies. His analysis sheds new light on the social, cultural, and historical facets of the post-Holocaust Jewish world's interest in the experience of child survivors.